Female Tasmanian devils have a higher tolerance than males to a deadly and highly infectious facial tumour disease that is threatening the survival of the species, a University of Tasmania study has found.
A three-year study led by PhD candidate Manuel Ruiz from the university’s school of natural sciences looked at the spread of the fatal disease among two wild devil populations in the state’s south-west.
The researchers monitored changes in physiology, the growth rate of tumours and cachexia, which is the decline of body condition associated with cancer. The findings are published online in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
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