BODY TEMPERATURES AND ACTIVITY PATTERNS OF TASMANIAN DEVILS (SARCOPHILUS-HARRISII) AND EASTERN QUELLS (DASYURUS-VIVERRINUS) THROUGH A SUB-ALPINE WINTER

During a held study of carnivorous dasyurid marsupials in subalpine Ta smania, the trapping success for Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisi i), but not for spotted-tailed quells (Dasyurus maculatus) or eastern quells (Dasyurus viverrinus), was significantly lower when winter weat her conditions turned to sleet or snow or when deep snow lay on the gr ound. This field study was instigated to determine if devils and easte rn quells spend more time in burrows in severe weather conditions and if they enter torpor. Torpor is known to occur in eutherian mammals as large as devils and in a similar-sized congeneric marsupial, the west ern quoll (Dasyurus geoffroyi). Using radiotelemetry, body temperature s of Tasmanian devils and eastern quells ranging freely in their natur al habitat were monitored throughout winter. Neither species was obser ved in torpor, even under prolonged severe weather conditions, and the number of hours spent active did not differ between summer and winter or between moderate and severe winter weather conditions. Body temper atures averaged 36.5 degrees C (SD = 0.079, range of 33.5 degrees-38.6 degrees C) for the three male eastern quells and 35.7 degrees C (SD = 0.575, range of 31.3 degrees-37.5 degrees C) for the four (male and f emale) devils. A diel cycle in body temperature occurred in both speci es; temperatures rose each evening when animals became active, remaine d high throughout the night despite ambient temperatures falling to th e diel minima, and were lower during the day when the individuals were inactive in dens. The amplitude of this cycle was greater in eastern quells (1.1 degrees C, SD = 0.142) than in devils (0.6 degrees C, SD = 0.252).