MARSUPIAL MAMMALS
The name marsupial comes from the marsupium or pouch, in which
these animals carry and nurse their young. Marsupials are the group of mammals
commonly thought of as pouched mammals. Like other mammals, the marsupials are
covered with hair. Mothers nurse their young — a young kangaroo may nurse even
when it has grown almost to the mother's size.
They give live birth, but they do not have long gestation times like placental
mammals (any member of the mammalian group characterized by the presence of
a placenta, which facilitates exchange of nutrients and wastes between the blood of the
mother and that of the fetus). Instead, they give birth very early and the young animal,
essentially a helpless embryo, climbs from the mother's birth canal to the nipples.
There, it grabs on with its mouth and continues to develop, often for weeks or months
depending on the species. The short gestation time is due to having a yolk-type
placenta in the mother marsupial. Placental mammals nourish the developing embryo
using the mother's blood supply, allowing longer gestation times.
At birth, marsupial babies are not fully developed. The baby's hind legs
are just nubs. The baby lives and continues to develop in the mother's
pouch. The pouch, or marsupium, also has the mother's mammary glands
for feeding the baby. A baby kangaroo may live in its mother's pouch for 6
months.
Marsupials are best known for the Australian members of the family,
the kangaroo, wallaby and the koala. The only marsupial native to North
America is the Virginia opossum. There are also some marsupials native to
Central America and South America.
Interesting Facts About Marsupials
1. Marsupials have very short gestation periods (the time the young spend in the mother's
tummy). The Virginia opossum (the only marsupial in Michigan) has a gestation period
of only 13 days, and the young are only the size of a question mark when they are born.
The Red Kangaroo, native to Australia, has a 30 day gestation period and the single
baby weighs only 1 gram (.035 ounces) when it is born. The baby kangaroo, called a
joey, spends about 235 days in the mother's pouch.
2. Marsupials range in size from tiny shrew-like creatures (5 grams) to large kangaroos
(over 200 pounds).
3. Marsupials first evolved in South America about 100 million years ago. At that time,
South America, Australia and Antarctica were connected together in one big continent.
4. Koalas and wombats are a little different from Kangaroos. While a kangaroo pouch
opens upwards at the top, the opening of the koala and wombat pouch is lower and
more downward facing toward the hind legs. The pouch has a strong muscle around the
opening to prevent the baby from falling out.
5. Australia has about 120 species of marsupials, New Guinea has 53 species of
marsupials, South and Central America have 90 species of marsupials, and North
America has only two species of marsupials.
6. The largest marsupial in the world is the Red Kangaroo, like the one you see in the
Card Center. Red Kangaroos can weigh 200 pounds, hop up to 30-40 miles per hour,
and leap over obstacles up to 10 feet high.
7. Most marsupials are night creatures so their most important senses are their sense of
smell and their hearing.
