This Australian Marsupial Has So Much Sex It Literally Kills Itself

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  via Wired

  The antechinus has one mission in life: to not die a virgin. The small Australian mouse-like marsupial has a short life of span of one year, and the last two or three weeks of its life are explosive. Around August, the antechinus goes on a sex rampage, mating with every female it can find. Encounters can last for up to 14 hour each. 

  The antechinus is a marsupial on a mission. It stops eating and sleeping, and only has one thing on its mind: sex. Around 11 months of age, the antechinus stops producing sperm, so what it has now is all that's left. It's his last chance of passing on his genes.

  Male antechinus are so focused on their mission that their body are so exhausted they start to disintegrate. His fur starts to fall out. His blood is pumping with stress hormones and testosterone. He starts bleeding internally. He goes blind. His immune system stalls, and he becomes infected with gangrene.

  But he doesn't stop until the very end. Inevitably, the females start to avoid the male antechinus when their bodies start to disintegrate. But eventually every male antechinus drops dead, just short of their first birthday. 

  Scientists haven't figured out why these little marsupials engage in suicidal reproduction, but there are a few theories. One thing is for sure: the antechinus is a weird creature.

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