Discoveries

February 17, 2023

Dying for Love

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Males of different species use sometimes ingenious and often odd wooing techniques on females: For example, crickets turn leaves into megaphones to boost their mating calls.

But Australia’s northern quoll takes it to a new level: The males go to dangerous lengths to find a mate, including sleeping less and exhausting themselves by walking long distances, NBC News reported.

The small carnivorous rodents, a marsupial species, are considered endangered due to habitat loss and other factors. Unfortunately, a new study found that the males’ extreme mating behavior is not really helping the species’ survivability.

Males are so-called “suicidal reproducers” that die after a single mating season, while females continue to live and breed for as long as four years.

To determine why the males die young, a research team fitted tiny backpacks with trackers onto both male and female quolls on the island of Groote Eylandt to monitor their behavior.

They then used an algorithm to analyze hours of recorded footage and found that males exhaust themselves so much they fail to find enough food or stay alert to avoid predators.

The exhaustion and sleep deprivation cause them to lose weight, as well as become more reckless and vulnerable to parasites.

While some animal species also put their energy into one breeding season – known as semelparity – the quoll is the largest mammal to do it.

“‘Live fast, die young’ is certainly the way of things for these species,” said Australian mammal researcher Jack Ashby, who was not involved in the study. “However, that maxim typically ends, ‘… and leave a good-looking corpse.’ This is definitely not what happens here.”

This story originally appeared in the February 17, 2023 newsletter, Les Misérables.