For some, the French voice petite mort , which means ‘little death’ and refers to orgasm, takes on a literal meaning. There are not a few historical figures who have died at the peak of sexual practice. And, according to the latest research, sex improves our health but it can also kill us. In the case of a new species of marsupial that has just been discovered in Australia, this is the only possible destination for males.
The black-tailed Antechinus , similar in appearance to the mouse with a flushed nose, dies before one year of age due to the frenzied mating sessions it undergoes to ensure the transmission of its genes . The copulation of this animal lasts for 14 hours at a time and is repeated without pause for several weeks, which increases the levels of the stress hormone until it is lethal for the stallions.
The discovery of this new species, published in the scientific journal Zootaxa , occurred in the highest peak of the Gondwana forests, in Springbrook National Park, in Australia. The team, from the Queensland University of Technology (USA), had previously found two new species of the genus Antechinus in the same area, which is surprising given the small number of new mammalian species that are documented each year. .
According to the authors of the work, the marsupial mating lasts for a few weeks a year, but it is so exhausting that it takes the lives of most of the males, leaving the survivors sterile. The sexual act of this animal, which does not require prior courtship, consists of a 14-hour bacchanal in which the male copulates intensely with as many females as possible in order to increase the chances of spawning. This sexual record is repeated for weeks, causing the accumulation of excess stress hormones in the male that degrades his body tissue to death. Females, however, have the ability to block the production of this hormone, although they also end up dying after the weaning of their first litter.
