41. Insatiable Marsupial

The male antechinus, a small marsupial native to Australia, has a unique mating strategy. For a brief period each year, the male antechinus experiences a surge in testosterone that leads it to engage in violent fights with other males and engage in marathon sex sessions with multiple females that can last over 12 hours.

This behavior has led some to compare them to characters from George R.R. Martin’s novels. However, this strategy comes at a high cost. Despite their intense reproductive efforts, the male antechinus rarely survives past its first mating season, underscoring the trade-offs that exist in the natural world.