Search

Aim: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between KMC and infant/toddler biopsychosocial outcomes.Method: PubMed, MEDLINE (OvidSP), MEDLINE in Process (OvidSP), Embase (OvidSP), PsycINFO (OvidSP), and AMED (OvidSP) were searched. Observational studies and randomized control trials through October 2015 that investigated the association between KMC intervention and infant/toddler biopsychosocial outcomes were included. Studies with <10 participants, those using skin-to-skin only during painful procedures or only on the day of birth, and those that did not report quantitative outcomes were excluded. Data were extracted by two coders and estimates were examined using random-effects.Results: 3177 studies were screened with 13 meeting inclusion criteria and representing 5 child outcomes (cognitive, motor, self-regulation, socio-emotional and temperament). Among LBW/premature neonates, KMC compared to conventional care was associated with improved infant self-regulation. Moderated effects were identified for cognitive (duration of KMC) and motor development (duration of KMC, country-level mortality ratio, and infant gender).Interpretations: KMC administered to vulnerable neonates during a sensitive period of brain development has a lasting impact on self-regulation skills later in infancy. Further research examining the longer-term effect of KMC on cognitive and motor development, socioemotional skills, and temperament is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing body size is accompanied by facial elongation across a number of mammalian taxa. This trend forms the basis of a proposed evolutionary rule, cranial evolutionary allometry (CREA). However, facial length has also been widely associated with the varying mechanical resistance of foods. Here, we combine geometric morphometrics and computational biomechanical analyses to determine whether evolutionary allometry or feeding ecology have been dominant influences on facial elongation across 16 species of kangaroos and relatives (Macropodiformes). We found no support for an allometric trend. Norwas craniofacial morphology strictly defined by dietary categories, but rather associated with a combination of the mechanical properties of vegetation types and cropping behaviours used to access them. Among species examined here, shorter muzzles coincided with known diets of tough, resistant plant tissues, accessed via active slicing by the anterior dentition. This morphology consistently resulted in increased mechanical efficiency and decreased bone deformation during incisor biting. Longer muzzles, by contrast, aligned with softer foods or feeding behaviours invoking cervical musculature that circumvent the need for hard biting. These findings point to a potential for craniofacial morphology to predict feeding ecology in macropodiforms, which may be useful for species management planning and for inferring palaeoecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing kangaroo occurrence in expanding peri-urban areas can be problematic when kangaroos become aggressive towards people and present a collision risk to motor vehicles. An improved understanding on kangaroo spatial and temporal activity patterns in the peri-urban environment is essential to manage kangaroo-human conflict. In this study, we used GPS telemetry to determine activity patterns of male Eastern Grey Kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) in a peri-urban community on the north-coast of New South Wales, Australia. Two types of GPS devices were employed; collars and cheaper alternative glue-on units. Kangaroos moved on average 2.39 km a day, with an average movement rate of 1.89 m/min, which was greatest at dawn. The GPS glue-on devices had short deployment lengths of one to 12 days. Despite limitations in attachment time, the glue-on devices were viable in obtaining daily spatial and temporal activity data. Our results aid towards alleviating conflict with kangaroos by providing new insights into kangaroo movements and activity within a peri-urban environment and introduces a potential cheap GPS alternative for obtaining this data relative to more expensive collars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Not all of the solar radiation that impinges on a mammalian coat is absorbed and converted into thermal energy at the coat surface. Some is reflected back to the environment, while another portion is reflected further into the coat where it is absorbed and manifested as heat at differing levels. Substantial insulation in a coat limits the thermal impact at the skin of solar radiation, irrespective where in the coat it is absorbed. In coats with low insulation, the zone where solar radiation is absorbed may govern the consequent heat load on the skin (HL-SR). Thin summer furs of four species of kangaroo from differing climatic zones were used to determine how variation in insulation and in coat spectral and structural characteristics influence the HL-SR. Coat depth, structure, and solar reflectance varied between body regions, as well as between species. The modulation of solar radiation and resultant heat flows in these coats were measured at low (1 m s) and high (6 m s) wind speeds by mounting them on a heat flux transducer/temperature-controlled plate apparatus in a wind tunnel. A lamp with a spectrum similar to solar radiation was used as a proxy for the sun. We established that coat insulation was largely determined by coat depth at natural fur lie, despite large variations in fibre density, fibre diameter, and fur mass. Higher wind speed decreased coat insulation, but depth still determined the overall level. A multiple regression analysis that included coat depth (insulation), fibre diameter, fibre density, and solar reflectance was used to determine the best predictors of HL-SR. Only depth and reflectance had significant impacts and both factors had negative weights, so, as either insulation or reflectance increased, HL-SR declined, the larger impact coming from coat reflectance. This reverses the pattern observed in deep coats where insulation dominates over effects of reflectance. Across all coats, as insulation declined, reflectance increased. An increase in reflectance in the thinnest coats was not the sole reason for the limited rise in HL-SR. Higher reflectance should increase the depth of penetrance of solar radiation, thus increasing HL-SR. But in M. antilopinus and Macropus rufus, which had the highest of coat reflectances, penetrance was relatively shallow. This effect appears due to high fibre density ( M. rufus) and major modifications in the fibre structure ( M. antilopinus). The differing adaptations likely relate to the habitats of these species, desert in the case of M. rufus and monsoon tropical woodland with M. antilopinus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociability, how individuals interact with conspecifics, is considered to be a key axis of animal personality. Consistent differences between individuals in measures of sociability have been demonstrated in some taxa, yet individuals also exhibit plasticity in their sociability across differing ecological conditions, particularly in gregarious species that do not occur in stable cohesive groups. Although repeatability and plasticity of measures of sociability are both important for understanding animal personality they have rarely been studied concurrently. Between and even within species, multiple behaviours have been considered to represent sociability, but there is still little understanding of the degree to which different measures of sociability reflect distinct traits. In this study, our first aim was to determine the repeatability of four different measures, representing two broad aspects of individual females' sociability, in a wild population of eastern grey kangaroos, Macropus giganteus . Our second aim was to investigate how shorter-term environmental conditions and individuals' states related to plasticity in these measures. Using data collected each month over a 5-year period on over 100 adult females, we analysed factors contributing to variation in individuals' grouping patterns (to reflect general gregariousness) and in the number of different conspecifics with which individuals associated (their ‘choosiness’ of social partners). Rainfall, body condition and reproductive state were all related to females' mean group sizes, and females with older dependent young foraged further from their neighbours. Females were more selective about group members when there was more food, and when they were in poor or excellent body condition. Although social preferences exist among females in this population, and females' measures of sociability are repeatable and differ between individuals over the long term, these current findings suggest that the influences of individuals' states and environmental conditions contribute to variation in females' patterns of sociability over shorter periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: Kangaroo mother care (KMC - early continuous skin-to-skin contact between mother and infants) has been recommended as an alternative care for low birth weight infants. There is limited evidence in our country on KMC initiated at home. The present study was undertaken to study acceptability of KMC in different community settings. Methods: A community-based pilot study was carried out at three sites in the States of Odisha, Gujarat and Maharashtra covering rural, urban and rural tribal population, respectively. Trained health workers provided IEC (information, education and communication) on KMC during antenatal period along with essential newborn care messages. These messages were reinforced during the postnatal period. Outcome measures were the proportion of women accepting KMC, duration of KMC/day and total number of days continuing KMC. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were also carried out. Results: KMC was provided to 101 infants weighing 1500-2000 g; 57.4 per cent were preterm. Overall, 80.2 per cent mothers received health education on KMC during antenatal period, family members (68.3%) also attended KMC sessions along with pregnant women and 55.4 per cent of the women initiated KMC within 72 h of birth. KMC was provided on an average for five hours per day. Qualitative survey data indicated that the method was acceptable to mothers and family members; living in nuclear family, household work, twin pregnancy, hot weather, etc., were cited as reasons for not being able to practice KMC for a longer duration. Interpretation & conclusions: It was feasible to provide KMC using existing infrastructure, and the method was acceptable to most mothers of low birth infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding sexual selection requires adequate measures of reproductive success. In wild mammals, reliable data on variation in male reproductive success are available for very few species. We assessed the distribution of paternities and quantified skew in male reproductive success in 2 populations of a marsupial with strong sexual dimorphism, the eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) over 5 years. We assigned fathers to 356 juveniles, or 79% of those with known mother. We found a relatively weak mating skew and the most successful males did not monopolize a large fraction of paternities. Nearly half of the adult males we monitored fathered at least 1 young. The yearly opportunity for sexual selection (Is)for males ranged from 1.80 to 3.98, and Nonacs' B index of mating skew was significant but low, ranging from 0.01 to 0.07. Considering the strong sexual dimorphism, long breeding season, and strong male dominance hierarchy, our results suggest an unexpectedly low reproductive skew. That is surprising given the wide range in male weights: the smallest fathers weighed 40% less than the heaviest ones. Skew in eastern grey kangaroos is weaker than that estimated for other species with lower sexual size dimorphism. We found substantial year-to-year variability in reproductive skew. Because male mating success varies according to the characteristics of competitors and the distribution of breeding opportunities, multiple years of monitoring are required to obtain reliable estimates. In the absence of data on paternity, strong sexual dimorphism cannot be assumed to imply high polygyny and strong sexual selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The Kangaroo mother care (KMC) method is the best care method that can provide the newborn's skin normal contact with the mother's skin for all newborns, especially the premature or underweight. However, this method has not still become common in some countries and many hospitals in Iran. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the impact of KMC method on vital signs and arterial oxygen saturation of newborns compared to the incubator care method in order to facilitate this method. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial study was performed on 53 neonates who have been hospitalized in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; they were randomly divided into two case and control groups. The KMC was conducted on newborns in the study group for an hour each day for 3 consecutive days. The vital signs including temperature, respiratory and heart rate per minute, and the arterial oxygen saturation rate were measured and recorded before, during and after caring process in both groups and then were compared and analyzed. Results and Conclusion: The results showed that the average temperature variations and the arterial oxygen saturation rate between the two groups had significant differences in 3 days of examining (P < 0/056, P = 0/00), but there were no significant differences in the mean heart and respiration rate between the two groups (P = NS). Thus, the Kangaroo care method is effective in the improvement and stabilizing of vital signs of newborns, and nurses can train this method to mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vigilance in prey species can serve many purposes, including predator detection and monitoring other group members, and is generally thought to impose a cost due to reduced food intake. However, previous studies have shown that herbivores are able to reduce the foraging cost of vigilance by chewing their food during vigilance bouts (‘vigilance with chewing’, as compared to ‘vigilance without chewing’). How predation risk, food availability and competition affect both the functions and the foraging costs of vigilance remains an open question. We studied female eastern grey kangaroos, Macropus giganteus , during winter and summer, when available food supplies were poor and rich, respectively, to investigate how group size, distance to cover, proximity between foragers and food patch quality affected decisions of foraging female kangaroos to exhibit antipredator or social vigilance, distinguishing vigilance with and without chewing. The use of antipredator vigilance was mainly driven by the perception of predation risk, and antipredator vigilance without chewing decreased with increased group size whereas antipredator vigilance with chewing increased nonlinearly with group size in winter. Distance to cover affected both forms of antipredator vigilance in summer only but there was no effect of nearest-neighbour distance. Social vigilance was affected positively by group size, and distance between foragers affected social vigilance without chewing positively, particularly in winter, and social vigilance with chewing negatively. Finally, patch quality increased the use of social vigilance with chewing in both seasons and decreased the use of antipredator vigilance with chewing in winter. This study provides new information on how animals make decisions about the functions and foraging costs of vigilance and allows a better understanding of how social foragers respond to an ever-changing environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mother–Baby Kangaroo method used in Colombia is described with extracts from ‘participant observations’ of the author. It is suggested that this method of constant skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, where the baby is sufficiently healthy to be able to breathe independently and to feed from the breast, and where mother has support, allows the baby to complete the gestation period and to continue to develop in an external extension of life in the womb. The author links her work in the programme with Bion's concept of container-contained, extending it to the idea of the risk to emotional survival becoming a risk to the container-contained function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioural traits can vary between individuals from the same population. These differences can involve consistent variation in the level of a particular behaviour (personality) or differences in the way individuals adjust their behaviour to environmental gradients (plasticity). In prey species, feeding rates and vigilance vary with environmental, social and individual factors and the feeding rate/vigilance relationship reflects the trade-off between food acquisition and safety. While feeding rates and vigilance have been shown to vary between individuals in relation to group size and predation risk, how they relate to other factors has not yet been investigated, nor has between-individual variation in this trade-off. We studied between-individual variation in vigilance, feeding rates and their trade-off in female eastern grey kangaroos, Macropus giganteus, to see whether females showed consistent behavioural differences and different plasticity in relation to ecological (food patch richness), social (group sizes) and physiological (reproductive states) conditions. We addressed two contrasting hypotheses: an ‘ecological’ hypothesis under which individuals facing the same conditions should behave similarly, and a ‘behavioural’ hypothesis under which they should behave differently because of their own personality or plasticity. Female kangaroos tended to adjust their behaviours similarly in relation to ecological and social conditions, supporting the ecological hypothesis. However, they also showed differences in personality and plasticity in relation to their reproductive states that could not be explained by energetic demand alone; this was suggestive of different maternal strategies, thus supporting the behavioural hypothesis. Altogether these results suggest that consistent differences in animals' personality and behavioural plasticity can be promoted by physiological conditions and are not necessarily repeatable across different ecological contexts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Prey can use alarm calls to indicate the presence of a predator in social groups. However, how does it work in species that do not produce such signals? We investigated how detection of a threat occurred in groups of kangaroos. We showed that detectors, through their vigilant posture, provided information about the threat to other close group members and reactions proceeded sequentially like a domino effect. Collective detection thus appears not to be restricted to social species that exhibit conspicuous alarm signals.Although collective detection plays a key role in determining individual survival, few studies have carefully examined the collective process of detection. We investigated collective detection in the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), a species that forages in temporary groups and rarely produces auditory alarm signals on detection. In experimental trials, we exposed one group member to a predation threat (a python, Morelia spilota) that its companions could only detect indirectly by observing the reaction of the detector. We videotaped these and control trials in which individuals were not exposed to the python and focal females simply used vigilance routinely. Our aims were to 1) examine whether collective detection occurred and, if so, 2) investigate the temporal pattern of the information transfer among individuals. The latencies between the focal females’ first scans and those of their 4 neighbors were shorter in the exposed than those in the control groups. The latencies between successive individuals’ scans were on average shorter in the exposed groups and at the beginning of the reaction chain, and interindividual distances acted to constrain information transfer. More individuals became vigilant in the exposed than in the control groups. Thus, detection of the snake by focal females provided information about a potential threat to other close group members and reactions to this initial detection proceeded sequentially like a domino effect. Collective detection thus is not restricted to social species that exhibit conspicuous alarm signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For herbivores, vigilance usually involves a trade-off with foraging, and a further trade-off between antipredator and social vigilance. Thus individual variation in vigilance may result in significant fitness consequences. We used mixed-effects models to document individual variation in vigilance in wild adult female eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) in Queensland, Australia. We tested the effects of group size, presence of adult males and wind on vigilance patterns and variation by analysing 399 five-minute samples on 31 individually identified females who were foraging on the periphery of groups. We determined the proportion of time that individuals spent vigilant, and the proportions of vigilance time spent in social versus antipredator vigilance and in low- versus high-intensity vigilance postures. The proportion of time females spent vigilant decreased with increasing group size but was not affected by wind speed or male presence, while the amount of their vigilance time spent in social vigilance was affected by interactions among the variables. After controlling for these effects, 13 females' vigilance patterns were significantly different from the population mean. Individual variation was also found in vigilance postures used and the effect of male presence. Understanding individual variation in vigilance is important for understanding individuals' antipredator and social strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To describe parents' experiences of factors that influenced their stay with their extremely preterm infants in a neonatal intensive care unit ( NICU). Methods This study has a qualitative descriptive design based on semistructured interviews conducted with seven mothers and six fathers. Results Opportunities to stay overnight together with their infant facilitated parental presence, and opportunities for taking over their infant's care empowered the parents in their parental role and increased their motivation to stay. Kangaroo mother care helped them to feel in control and feel needed, which increased their presence. High levels of illumination and noise rendered it difficult for parents to sleep and stay overnight with the infant. Low staffing levels limited their use of kangaroo mother care when they had to wait for assistance to transfer the infant from the incubator. Several participants perceived the performance of painful procedures on their child as stressful and as an obstacle to their presence. Conclusion Kangaroo mother care and active involvement in the infant's care gave parents a sense of control and strengthened their motivation to be with their infant. High levels of noise and illumination and a dismissive staff attitude were obstacles to parents' presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To study the effect of Kangaroo mother care in the Kangaroo ward in comparison with conventional care at neonatal unit on growth and breastfeeding in very low birth weight infants at 40 weeks' corrected gestational age. Methods: One hundred and forty neonates with birth weight <1500 g were randomized. The primary outcome was the average weight gain (g/kg/day) from the time of randomization to term gestational age. Results: Mean birth weight, age in days and weight at randomization were similar in both the groups. At term gestational age, average weight gain (g/kg/day) post randomization (23.3 ± 8.7 g vs. 22.64 ± 9.1 g, p = 0.67) and breastfeeding rate (85.9% vs. 87.0%) were comparable. There was no difference in weight gain (g/kg/day) from randomization to hospital discharge between the Kangaroo care group and conventional care group (18.01 g vs. 15.64 g, p = 0.12). Mortality, morbidities like sepsis, hypothermia, apnoea, hypoglycaemia and duration of hospitalization were equally distributed. On average, 11.5 days of intermediate care were saved in the kangaroo group. Conclusion: Kangaroo mother care in the Kangaroo ward is as effective as conventional care in the neonatal unit without any increase in morbidity or mortality in stable VLBW infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mean vigilance of animals in a group often decreases as their group size increases, yet nothing is known about whether there is individual variability in this relationship in species that change group sizes frequently, such as those that exhibit fission–fusion social systems. We investigated variability in the relationship between group size and vigilance in the eastern grey kangaroo ( Macropus giganteus) by testing whether all individuals showed decreased vigilance with increased group size, as has been commonly assumed. We carried out both behavioural observations of entire groups of kangaroos and focal observations of individually recognised wild female kangaroos. As in other studies, we found a collective group-size effect on vigilance; however, individuals varied in their vigilance patterns. The majority (57%) of the identified individual kangaroos did not show significant group-size effects for any of the recorded measures of vigilance. The females that did not show a negative group-size effect were, on average, more vigilant than those females that did show a group-size effect, but this difference was not significant. We propose that some females exhibit higher levels of social vigilance than others, and that this social vigilance increases with group size, cancelling out any group-size effect on anti-predator vigilance for those females. Our results therefore suggest that only some prey individuals may gain anti-predator benefits by reducing their time spent scanning when in larger groups. The large amount of variation that we found in the vigilance behaviour of individual kangaroos highlights the importance of collecting and analysing vigilance data at the individual level, which requires individual recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To study the efficacy of Kangaroo mother care (KMC) as compared to conventional care for low birth weight babies. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled trial was done on 114 neonates, delivered at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMCH) Aligarh India (March' 2006 to September' 2007) by vaginal route and weighing =1800 grams at birth -58 neonates received KMC for 6-8 hours/ day in 4-6 sessions while 56 neonates in control group received conventional care (radiant warmers, cots in warm room). Efficacy was measured in terms of effect on growth, physiological parameters, length of hospital stay, morbidity, mortality and exclusive breastfeeding rates. Results: KMC and conventional groups were similar with regard to maternal and birth characteristics. Better weight gain per day (19.3± 3.8 g vs.10.4±4.8 g, p<0.001), significant reduction in respiratory rate (p<0.001), rise in rectal temperature and oxygen saturation (p<0.001), shorter duration of hospital stay (13.7±8.9 days vs. 15.0±10.3 days), lower incidence of nosocomial sepsis (6.9% vs. 23.2% p=0.014) and severe infection (p=0.003) and higher exclusive breastfeeding rates (p<0.01) were seen in infants receiving KMC. No statistically significant difference was seen between the two groups in terms of mortality. Conclusion: Kangaroo mother care results in better weight gain, decreases the risk of serious infections and hypothermia, stabilizes physiological parameters, decreases the hospital stay, promotes breast feeding and has no adverse effect on growth and mortality in LBW babies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of vigilance activity to predator detection has been demonstrated in numerous studies. However, few studies have investigated the effect of one group member being vigilant on the probability of others being vigilant in group-forming prey species. Thus, we studied vigilance activity of eastern gray kangaroos Macropus giganteus that still experience occasional predation. We video recorded the behavior of all group members simultaneously and investigated the probability of a focal group member being vigilant (or nonvigilant) in relation to other individuals vigilant and nonvigilant behaviors. Our results show that the decision of an individual to exhibit a vigilant posture depended on what it and other group members had been doing (scanning or foraging) at the preceding second and on group size. The probability of an individual being vigilant was positively affected by the proportion of companions that were vigilant at the previous second, confirming the existence in this species of a tendency for synchronization of individual vigilance. Group size affected individuals vigilance in 3 ways. First, individuals were more likely to be vigilant if the proportion of their group mates that was vigilant was high, and this was strengthened with increasing group size. Second, the effect of the individuals own vigilance state (vigilant or not) at the previous second also increased with group size. Third, the probability of an individual being vigilant decreased with group size. These findings increase our understanding of the much-studied relationship between vigilance and group size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The masticatory motor patterns of three tammar wallabies and two red kangaroos were determined by analyzing the pattern of electromyographic (EMG) activity of the jaw adductors and correlating it with lower jaw movements, as recorded by digital video and videoradiography. Transverse jaw movements were limited by the width of the upper incisal arcade. Molars engaged in food breakdown during two distinct occlusal phases characterized by abrupt changes in the direction of working-side hemimandible movement. Separate orthal (Phase I) and transverse (Phase II) trajectories were observed. The working-side lower jaw initially was drawn laterally by the balancing-side medial pterygoid and then orthally by overlapping activity in the balancing- and working-side temporalis and the balancing-side superficial masseter and medial pterygoid. Transverse movement occurred principally via the working-side medial pterygoid and superficial masseter. This pattern contrasted to that of placental herbivores, which are known to break down food when they move the working-side lower jaw transversely along a relatively longer linear path without changing direction during the power stroke. The placental trajectory results from overlapping activity in the working- and balancing-side adductor muscles, suggesting that macropods and placental herbivores have modified the primitive masticatory motor pattern in different ways. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Classic studies in fear ecology have been inconclusive regarding whether predator waste products repel herbivores and whether the deterrent effect, if any, is based on repulsion or fear. Other studies imply that the predator must have co-evolved with prey to maximize the efficacy of response. We used chemosensory cues from the urine of native and nonnative canines to manipulate the behavior of the western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus). One-choice feeding trials were located along a distance gradient, and administered to 28 free-ranging, semi-wild, western grey kangaroos. Foods closer to the chemical source (within 12 m) were less likely to be eaten than those further from the source when the urine came from a native predator, the dingo (Canis dingo). Flight behavior was more likely to be observed on occasions when the dingo urine had been presented. A lesser effect occurred (to within 6 m) when urine was presented from the nonnative canid (coyote [Canis latrans]), while the flight behavior occurred once. Neither human urine, nor tap-water control, had any effect. We offer the first evidence that native predator-based chemical cues affect patch selection, while increasing fear, for this herbivore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Alarm signalling as a means to reduce predation risk is an important component of the behavioural repertoire of many species. It has previously been noted that many of the macropodoid marsupials (kangaroos, wallabies and rat-kangaroos) produce a foot-thump, an audible signal created by striking the ground with one or both feet, that is most likely an alarm signal. 2. The prevalence of foot-thumping within the macropodoids and hypotheses of its function as an alarm signal have been poorly documented. To address this issue, we investigate the prevalence of foot-thumping in macropodoids and interpret possible function according to current alarm signalling theory. Evidence for foot-thumping was found in almost all macropodoids. In light of this, the behaviour appears to be a conservative trait that may have arisen alongside or followed the evolution of bipedal locomotion, and suggests that this trait carries significant benefits that transcend ecological and predation differences among species. 3. Nine alarm signal hypotheses were explored in order to determine the function of foot-thumping in macropodoid marsupials. However, the existing evidence for consistent function remains inconclusive. Therefore, a series of predictions were developed to provide the foundation for future research to investigate more thoroughly the function of foot-thumping in macropodoid marsupials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ideal free distribution (IFD) theory predicts that animals in competitive situations should distribute themselves among available habitat patches according to the density of conspecifics and its regulatory effect on resources. To investigate the applicability of IFD models to free-ranging herbivores, we quantified the dispersion and foraging behaviour of eastern grey kangaroos Macropus giganteus among habitat patches of differing suitability, within and outside a reservoir catchment in southern Victoria, Australia. Kangaroo densities within the catchment had a regulatory effect on resource density, while surrounding farmland maintained a higher standing crop despite higher densities of competitors. This difference was slight in autumn, however, when the system was apparently close to equilibrium. Gross bite rates of individuals foraging in farmland were lower than for individuals foraging within the catchment, and vigilance behaviour occurred more frequently in farmland habitat than any other, decreasing time devoted to feeding. Interference competition occurred in only 1.9% of focal samples, although competitive differences based on phenotype were observed. Although resource gains by individual kangaroos are likely to be influenced by other factors, including resource dynamics, predation risk and phenotypic differences, IFD theory provides a valuable analytical framework for this herbivore foraging system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of berthing in marsupials shows that there are at least three distinct methods. In the opossums (Didelphidae), possums, and kangaroos (Phalangeroidea), the expelled newborns crawl from the urogenital sinus to the pouch. In the bandicoots (Peramelidae), the expelled newborn remain attached to the placenta via the umbilical cord while they swim from the urogenital sinus to the pouch. In the carnivorous Dasyuridae, the newborn are expelled in a column of viscous fluid in which they "swim up" to the tunnel between the urogenital sinus and the pouch and then move to the pouch. Some of the recent anatomical studies, on the relative development of the neural system in newborn marsupials and on the behaviours of the newborns within the three berthing methods, have reawakened interest in the mechanisms that might be used to find the pouch. The motor patterns occurring in the newborn marsupials have many similarities to the motor patens that appear in eutherian embryos at these same developmental stages. Studies that correlate the motor behaviours with the sensory and neural development of newborn marsupials could have important benefits for the understanding of the early organization of behaviour in mammals in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often essential to understand historical selection regimes to explain current traits. We studied antipredator behavior of three Tasmanian macropodid marsupials - Forester kangaroos Macropus giganteus, Bennett's wallabies M. rufogriseus, and Tasmanian pademelons Thylogale billardierii - to understand how antipredator Behavior functions in a relatively intact predator community. We also compared behavior of the kangaroos and wallabies on a predator-free island where they were translocated from mainland Tasmania 30 yr ago. Both species allowed humans to get closer to them on the predator-free island; a finding consistent with a reduced risk of predation on the island. Neither kangaroo, nor wallabies, exhibited group size effects - they did not modify time allocated to foraging or antipredator vigilance as a function of group size at either site. Nor did overall time allocation vary in any consistent way. In contrast, mainland Australian sibling-species of Forester kangaroos and Bennett's wallabies have both been reported to have group size effects. It is possible either that the exticnction of the thylacine Thylacinus cynocephalus in the last century has led to an evolutionary loss of group size effects and other antipredator behavior, or that thylacines were never that important a predator on Tasmanian subspecies. In contrast, Tasmanian pademelons studied on the Tasmanian mainland modified time allocation as a function of group size suggesting that they perceived safety in numbers. Pademelons, because of their body size, are relatively more vulnerable than larger-bodied macropodids to the rich community of marsupial carnivores in Tasmania, and used a mix of social and individual strategies to manage predation risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the effects of predation risk from snakes on microhabitat use of kangaroo rats, Dipodomys deserti and Dipodomys merriami in the Mojave Desert, California. Related studies; Quantifying microhabitat use of the rodents; Effects of snakes on foraging; Differences between the species of kangaroo rats.

Background: The aim of the study was to compare of mother and newborns abdominal contact and Kangaroo skin on mother's anxiety. Materials and Methods: This study is a single-blind randomized control trial in 2015. Questionnaire about Demographic and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was completed for two groups. Results: There was no significant difference in maternal anxiety between kangaroo care and abdominal contact by Mann-Whitney test immediately after birth (Z = -1.33, p = 0.42) and after 2 months (Z = -1.47, p = 0.86). Conclusions: The effect of kangaroo contact on mother's anxiety was similar to abdominal contact and if the kangaroo care is done for a short period of time, it will not change maternal anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses an observation of dingoes scavenging during a chronic food shortage in South Australia in September 2009. The shortage occurred following severe dust storms. A female dingo was observed feeding on dry kangaroo hide before escaping. Carcasses of kangaroos demonstrated evidence of being consumed while both fresh and dry. Another dingo chewed the frame and feathers of a dried wedge-tailed eagle. The observation concluded that the fittest dingoes survive the longest during starvation.