Abstract
Abstract 1. This study describes the metabolic characteristics of three species of marsupial: the quokka (Setonix brachyurus), the ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) and the rabbit-eared bandicoot (Macrotis lagotis). The minimum metabolic rates of these marsupials is 70% of the eutherian value predicted by Kleiber (1961) . 2. Q10 values estimated at thermoneutrality suggest that the minimum rate of heat loss is also lower than some eutherian species. However, thermal conductances are similar in the two groups of mammals. 3. Deviations in basal metabolic rate from the predicted eutherian value are common to both marsupials and eutherians. Since the metabolic rate can be an adaptive characteristic, it is concluded that an ecological, rather than a phylogenetic approach is more useful when comparing levels of metabolism in mammals.
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