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Use of time and space by platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus: Monotremata) along a Victorian stream
Author(s) -
Serena M.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1994.tb01563.x
Subject(s) - biology , platypus , juvenile , burrow , adult male , foraging , philopatry , home range , monotreme , zoology , mark and recapture , ecology , habitat , demography , biological dispersal , population , taxonomy (biology) , sociology , systematics , endocrinology
Radio‐tracking and mark recapture methods were used to characterize the spatial organization and temporal activity patterns of free‐ranging platypuses in southern Victoria. The study area supported an estimated 1.3‐2.1 adult or subadult animals per kilometre of stream in the three summers sampled. The individual home ranges of 15 radio‐tagged animals comprised 0.33‐2.28 km of stream; animals foraging exclusively in the stream had significantly longer ranges (mean=1.40 km) than animals which also foraged in associated pond habitats (mean=0.64km). Home ranges of grown females overlapped with those of neighbouring grown females, subadult and adult males, and juveniles (