The male antechinus is a small Australian marsupial that looks a lot like a mouse and lives life at light speed.

It has a lot to get through, you see, because it’s about to drop dead.

University of NSW researcher Zoe Xirocostas studied the link between lifespans and sex chromosomes. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Female antechinus typically live to the ripe old age of three, reproducing several times. Males get to the age of one, mate frantically, then drop dead.

It is an extreme example of a trait that is widespread throughout the animal kingdom.