The brown antechinus is a rat-sized, nocturnal, forest dwelling marsupial found only in Australia.

Life span
Males live up to a year, dying within a month of mating. Females can live up to 3 years

Statistics
Head and body length up to 95mm, tail length up to 90mm. Male weight up to 60 grams, female weight up to 28 grams

Physical description
A small, brown, rat-sized marsupial with a flattish head, pointed nose and cat-like pointed teeth.

Distribution
Northern Queensland and south-east Queensland through to south-east New South Wales.

Habitat
Forests with thick ground cover.

Diet
Carnivores, eating small invertebrates such as beetles, spiders and cockroaches.

Behaviour
Brown antechinus tend to be solitary nocturnal animals, spending most of their time on the forest floor apart from during the breeding season when their behaviour changes.

Reproduction
Sexual maturity is reached at 11 months, with matings occurring during the same 2-3 week period each year in any one locality. Mating is timed so that lactation and weaning coincide with the spring and summer abundance of food (invertebrates). Brown antechinus produce anywhere between 4 and 12 young per litter. Gestation lasts for 30-40 days, with weaning occurring at least three months after birth. During the mating season males gather in forest treetops in large groups (leks) where females can come to choose a partner. Both sexes mate with multiple partners, so young from the same litter may have different fathers. Because males have little confidence in paternity (if they are the father or not), they will often leave the maternal nest whilst the litter is young to stay with other females.

Conservation status
The Brown antechinus is listed by IUCN as a 'lower risk' species, 'near threatened'.