Evolutionary biology of the Australian carnivorous marsupial genus Antechinus

Antechinus is an Australian genus of small carnivorous marsupials. Since 2012, the number of described species in the genus has increased by 50% from ten to fifteen. The systematic relationships of these new species and others in the genus have not been well resolved and a broad phylogeographic study of the genus is lacking. Moreover, little ecological information is known about these new species. Therefore, the present thesis examined the evolutionary biology of Antechinus in two complimentary components. The first component aimed to resolve the systematics and phylogeography of the genus Antechinus. The second component, at a finer spatiotemporal scale, aimed to improve understanding of the autecology, habitat use and risk of extinction within the group, with a focus on the recently named buff-footed antechinus, A. mysticus and a partially sympatric congener, A. subtropicus.