Weird and Wonderful Animals 114 - Kalutas

Scientific name: Dasykaluta rosamondae

The kaluta, also known as the little red kaluta, is a species of carnivorous nocturnal marsupial. It lives in the arid regions of northwest Australia. Individuals are around 10-15 centimeters long and weigh from 20 to 40 grams. They live for about four years in captivity.

The species has only been known to science since 1964, but the local Aboriginal community has no doubt known it for far longer. In fact, it wasn’t until 2019 that scientists were able to confirm the suicidal sexual tendencies of the kaluta, and it’s about as dramatic as it sounds. Male kalutas are semelparous, which means that shortly after they mate, they drop dead!

Kalutas, which reach sexual maturity at just 10 months, have only one two-week window in early September during which resources in their environment are abundant enough to support reproduction. During these brief, frenzied breeding seasons, male kalutas mate with several females — for up to 14 hours at a time— until they succumb to exhaustion and die. Turns out that the escalating stress hormones cause immune system collapse, haemorrhaging, infections and death after mating in all males.

For more information:
theconversation.com/doing-it-to-death-suicidal-sex-in-mar...

Taken on: August 25, 2023

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