Possum

Fig. 2.6 Rostral nasal anatomy of Honey Possum (Tarsipes rostratus) showing (a) section levels and (b) TS at level 4 naso-palatine papilla with taste-buds (TB), gustatory chemoreceptors facing lumen of N-Pd (incisive duct, Id) (from Kratzing, 1987).

Clapperton, B.K., L.R. Matthews, M.S. Fawkes, and A.J. Pearson. 1996. Lithium and cyanide-induced conditional food aversions in brushtail possums. Jour. Wildl. Manage. 60 195-201. 

O Connor, C.E. and L.R. Matthews. 1995. Cyanide induced aversions in the possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) effect of route of administration, dose, and formulation. Physiol. Behav. 58 265-271. 

Warburton, B. and K.W. Drew. 1994. Extent and nature of cyanide-shyness in some populations of Australian brushtail possums in New Zealand. Wildl. Res. 21 599-605. 

Eason, C.T., C.M. Frampton, R. Henderson, M.D. Thomas, and D.R. Morgan. 1993a. Sodium monofluoroacetate and alternative toxins for possum control. N.Z. Jour. Zool. 20 329-334. 

Eason, C.T., G.R. Wright, and H. Fitzgerald. 1992. Sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) water-residue analysis after large-scale possum control. N.Z. Jour. Ecol. 16 47 4-9. 

Mead, R.J., D.L. Moulden, and L.E. Twigg. 1985a. Significance of sulfhydryl compounds in the manifestation of fluoroacetate toxicity to the rat, brush-tailed possum, woylie and western grey kangaroo. Austral. Jour. Biol. Sci. 38 139-149. 

Oliver, A.J. and D.R. King. 1983. The influence of ambient temperatures on the susceptibility of mice, guinea-pigs and possums to compound 1080.Austral. Wildl. Res. 10 297-301. 

Spurr, E.B. 1993. Feeding by captive rare birds on baits used in poisoning operations for control of brushtail possums. N.Z. Jour. Ecol. 17 13-18. 

Spurr, E.B. 1994. Impacts on non-target invertebrate populations of aerial application of sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) for brushtail possum control. Pages 116-123 in A.A. Seawright and C.T. Eason (eds.). Proceedings of the Science Workshop on 1080. Roy. Soc. N.Z., Misc. Ser. 28. 

Bolser RC, Hay ME (1996) Are tropical plants better defended Palatability and defenses of temperate vs tropical seaweeds. Ecology 77 2269-2286 Boyle RR, McClean S (2004) Constraint of feeding by chronic ingestion of 1,8-cinole in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). J Chem Ecol 30 757-775 Brattsten LB (1992) Metabolic defenses against plant allelochemicals. In Rosenthal GA, Berenbaum MR (eds) Herbivores their interactions with secondary plant metabolites. Academic, New York, pp 175-242... 

Marsh KJ, Wallis IR, Andrew RL, Foley WJ (2006a) The detoxification limitation hypothesis where did it come from and where is it going J Chem Ecol 32 1247-1266 Marsh KJ, Wallis IR, McLean S, Sorensen JS, Foley WJ (2006b) Conflicting demands on detoxification pathways influence how common brushtail possums choose their diets. Ecology 87 2103-2112... 

Pass GJ, McLean S (2002) Inhibition of the microsomal metabolism of 1,8-cineole in the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) by terpenes and other chemicals. Xenobiotica 32 1109-1126... 

Other chemical studies did not find sex or seasonal differences in the composition of mammalian scents. No sex differences in the composition of mixtures of volatile compounds from glands have been found in the brushtailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, for example. The same profiles of low-molecular-weight branched carboxylic acids were found in paracloacal gland secretions of males and females (Woolhouse etal., 1994). Branched carboxylic acids also occurred in the preorbital gland secretion of a female sika deer [Ccrvus nippon) (Wood, 2004). Comparisons between the compositions of secretions in different, related species permit assumptions about functional adaptations and possible evolutionary pathways. Such comparisons are available for five Mustek species (Brinck etal., 1983), and three species of hyenas (Buglass etal., 1990). 

Brushtail possum Tridwsurus vulpecula Sternal gland Eucalyptus leaves 5-Methyl-2-furoic acid, homogentisic acid... 

In isolated male mice, own odor regulates the amount of urine deposited in marking. If it is present, they mark less, while clean surfaces and also other males urine trigger more frequent marking (Daumae and Kimura, 1986). In our laboratory experiments, students are impressed by how a mouse stops at a clean tile in the middle of a soiled open field. A scent-the-habitat function for odors from both sexes has been assumed for the gland secretions in the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, since no sex differences in chemical composition were found (Woolhouse etal., 1994). 

The brushtail possum, T. vulpecula, feeds on eucalyptus leaves. Among the terpenes these contain, 1,8-cineole is the most abundant. Feeding experiments with increasing levels of cineole showed that this compound limits food intake. In the brushtail possum, multiple pathways oxidize cineole, and this total system, rather than any one enzyme, limits the amount of cineole that the animal... 

Boyle, R. R. and McLean, S. (2004). Constraint of feeding by chronic ingestion of 1,8-cineole in the brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula). Journal of Chemical Ecology 30, 757-775. 

Plannery, T. (1998). Throwing Way Leg Tree-kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds On the track of Unknown Mammals in WildestNew Guinea. New York Atlantic Monthly Press. 

Salamon, M. (1995). Seasonal, sexual and dietary induced variations in the sternal scent secretion in the brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula). In Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, vol. 7, ed. R. Apfelbach, D. Miiller-Schwarze, K. Reutter, and E. Weiler, pp. 211-222. Oxford Elsevier/Pergamon. 

Woolhouse, A. D., Weston, R. J., and Hamilton, B. H. (1994). Analysis of secretions from scent-producing glands ofbrushtail possum (Tnc/w5ur TOZpemZ(i).Journ(iZo/CkOTfc(iZ... 

PoUdnghome, 1., Hamerili, D., Cowan, P., and Duckworth, J. (2005). Plant-based immunocontraceptive control of wildUfe— potentials, limitations and possums. Vaccine 23(15) 1847-1850. 

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