Death By Sex: New Animal Species Mates Until It Dies

Scientists have discovered a new species of animal that essentially kills itself having sex.

These marsupials - the Tasman Peninsula Dusky Antechinus from Tasmania and the Australian Mainland Dusky Antechinus - spend their entire summers having relentless sex with as many females as they can.

Over a period of two weeks the males mate for up to 14 hours a day, leaving them in a shocking condition.

Mammalogist Dr Andrew Baker told the Australian Broadcasting Company: “They'll bleed internally, they have ulcers, their fur falls off in patches, sometimes they're stumbling around blind and still trying to mate.”

And the amount of testosterone they build up over this period, ultimately leads to their downfall - essentially death by sex.

Dr Baker added: “Ultimately, the testosterone triggers a malfunction in the stress hormone shut-off switch; the resulting rise in stress hormones causes the males’ immune systems to collapse and they all drop dead before the females give birth to a single baby.”

As a result of the incessant could find themselves on the endangered species list before long.

The only upside to the the smaller number of males is that there is more food for the females and their young.