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Reproductive biology

Out with a bang

Not many mammalian males die soon after mating — the phenomenon was thought to be limited to certain small marsupials. Its occurrence in a larger marsupial overturns previous ideas about why the strategy exists.

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Figure 1: Dying for sex: the northern quoll.

ERIC AND DAVID HOSKING/CORBIS

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Correspondence to David J. Stevens.

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Humphries, S., Stevens, D. Out with a bang. Nature 410, 758–759 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35071202

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