Two marsupial species whose males die after marathon sex sessions have been put on Australia’s endangered list, with scientists warning on Tuesday that they are racing against the clock to save them.
The tiny black-tailed dusky antechinus and silver-headed antechinus — discovered in 2013 and found in wetter, higher-altitude regions of Queensland state — are known for suicidal mating habits that include up to 14-hour sex sessions.
Climate change, habitat loss and feral pests are also threatening the mouse-like species, with scientists fearful they could soon die off in a country notorious for having the world’s highest mammal extinction rate.
“They are very frantic and try and get from one mate to another and the mating itself can last hours, so it’s very tiring,” Queensland University of Technology mammalogist Andrew Baker said of the frenzied copulation.
Males go from “absolutely prime health... to falling to pieces before your very eyes” within the annual two-week mating period at the end of the Southern Hemisphere winter, Mr. Baker said.
They have so much sex while also trying to hang on to female mates and fighting off rivals that they produce excessive levels of testosterone.
This stops a stress hormone from switching off, which then destroys their organs and kills them off.
“They’re honestly like the walking dead towards the end,” Mr. Baker said.
