Mammals die in mass after each mating season

The immune system of male kaluta marsupials weakens because they mate with many mates for a short time, leading to mass deaths.

The researchers found interesting new details about the unusual and unusual mating habits of the kaluta (Dasykaluta rosamondae) , a small marsupial like a rat distributed only in arid Pilbara region in northwestern Australia. According to research published in Zoology, male kaluta die in large numbers after a mating season.

Kaluta marsupial.(Photo: Lochman LT).

Mating activity causes male kaluta to be so stressed and exhausted that the immune system is weakened. This is not surprising because they mate with multiple sex partners for a short week, sometimes lasting 14 hours at a time.

"We regularly catch healthy males throughout the study, except immediately after the mating season. Along with other field and laboratory studies, this indicates a dead row. male kaluta series , " said Genevieve Hayes, head of research at the University of Western Australia's School of Biology.

Female Kaluta can store sperm from multiple mates and mate regularly with different males. They can lay 8 offspring from the sperm of three mates."That means the male kaluta must mate a lot and have good sperm quality to defeat the rival. This sacrifice for reproductive purposes seems like a fatal blow to them , " Hayes said.

Mating behavior that causes a series of male deaths in the first season is called "male semelparity". Due to the harsh nature, this breeding strategy is very rare in the animal kingdom. In fact, scientists know quite a few of these mating species, most of which are invertebrates.

Kaluta belongs to the marsupial family of Dasyuridae, comprising 61 species. According to the researchers, they are located in a different branch of the evolutionary tree than other species of the same family.