Marsupials
The marsupials include a diverse range of forms, from tiny mole like creatures to kangaroos that are almost as tall as a person. Perhaps the most distinctive and important feature of marsupials is that they essentially give birth to underdeveloped young. After the relatively tiny ‘joey’ has been born, it then completes much of its development outside of the womb. With only it’s sense of smell and forelimbs developed, the tiny animal drags itself to attach to the teat, which swells to plug into the mouth. This teat and the baby are usually protected by a pocket of skin; the pouch. There is a wide diversity of pouches: while some species have a deep, extendable, muscle-lined pocket (pictured), others may just have a rudimentary flap of skin.
Types of marsupials and where to see themThe earliest fossil evidence suggests (to the horror of most Australians), that marsupials originally evolved somewhere is what is now North America. They have long been extinct from that continent, but have recently re-invaded from South America, after the two American continents connected several million years ago. Marsupials have long inhabited the ‘neotropics’ of South and Central America, where there are almost 100 species of ‘American Opossums’ and ‘Shrew Opossums’. the Americas...
People often forget that there are that many marsupials in South and Central America. Most species are nocturnal (night time active), so it is best to go out with a spotlight at night to find them. I have been lucky enough to find 'four-eyed opossums' in the Amazon, and they have easy to see eye-shine, and move slowly, somewhat like Australia's arboreal (tree dwelling) possums, except they tend to be a bit smaller. australia...
However, it is in the long isolated Australasian land mass where marsupials have, in the absence of other placental mammals, radiated into such a diverse range of forms. Australian marsupials have evolved equivalents to fill in niches that are occupied elsewhere by cats, weasels, pigs, moles, deer and monkeys.
To find out more about the diffrent types of marsupials and where you might see them, click on the links below...
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