Did you know that numbats are only found in two locations in Western Australia and they are affected by high summer temperatures?
While conducting thermal imaging on marsupials, Curtin University researchers have discovered the endangered animals feel the heat.
They found that after 10 minutes of activity in the sun, the numbats overheat to a body temperature of greater than 40 degrees Celsius.
Christine Cooper, from Curtin's School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said despite using techniques such as raising or flattening their fur to regulate body temperature, numbats were prone to overheating.
The numbats used to be found across southern Australia but were now restricted to two remaining natural populations at Dryandra Woodland, near Narrogin, where the study was done, and Perup Nature Reserve, near Manjimup, with some additional re-introduced populations.
Dr Cooper said these were all factors that were important for future conservation efforts, particularly given the warming climate.
"Active only during the day and with an exclusive diet of termites, numbats are often exposed to high temperatures and gain heat from direct sunlight," Dr Cooper said.
"Even when in the shade, they gain heat from radiation from the ground, rocks and trees.
"We found when it is cold, numbats keep warm by raising their fur to provide better insulation and to allow more radiation to penetrate, and when it is hot, they depress their fur to facilitate heat loss and shield the skin from solar radiation."
Dr Cooper said in this way their body functioned as a thermal window that allows heat exchange.
She said the estimated population of WA's numbats was only about 2000.
"Numbats are under threat from habitat loss and introduced predators such as foxes and feral cats," she said.
"In terms of habitat requirements, our findings show the importance of considering temperature and shade availability when planning translocations for the conservation of this endangered species, particularly given our warming climate.
"Even with shade available, higher temperatures will reduce how long numbats can forage during the day, and because they have limited capacity to become more nocturnal, heat may become problematic for numbats.
"Understanding how the numbats respond to and manages heat is essential to understanding its ecology and has particular relevance for the future conservation and management of the species in the face of global warming."
The school's findings have recently been published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
