Plasma prolactin concentrations throughout lactation in the eastern quoll, Dasyurus viverrinus (Marsupialia:Dasyuridae)

Blood samples were collected throughout lactation from eight D. viverrinus, and the concentrations of prolactin in the plasma determined by an heterologous, double-antibody radioimmunoassay. For the first 45-50 days of lactation concentrations fluctuated between 2 and 80 ng/ml but were generally less than 60 ng/ml. They then increased sharply to over 120 ng/ml and greater than 200 ng/ml in some animals. Levels began to decline after 120-130 days of lactation and were less than 40 ng/ml in all animals by the time lactation had ceased, between 160 and 185 days, when the young became independent. The timing of these changes correlates well with a rapid increase in the growth rate of the young, the time at which they first relinquish the teat and remain in the nest, their first intake of solid food shortly after eruption of the first molars and specific changes in milk composition. The pattern of prolactin concentrations throughout lactation in the quoll is therefore very similar to that previously described for the tammar, Macropus eugenii, and the possum, Trichosurus vulpecula.