The recycling of urea nitrogen by the wild tammar wallaby ( Macropus eugenii)—A “ruminant-like” marsupial

Abstract

1. 1. The “ruminant-like” macropod marsupial—the tammar wallaby ( Macropus eugenii) —has an innate potential to recycle urea nitrogen. Methods were devised to determine if this recycling potential is realized in the wild state. 2. 2. The results indicated that, at the beginning of the dry season when the nitrogen content in the vegetation begins to decline, wild tammars recycle urea nitrogen and continue to do so throughout the prolonged dry season. 3. 3. The survival value of recycling is discussed, and the significance of the digestive physiology of macropod marsupials and their eutherian analogs are compared to other mammals.