Marsupial

The mammals alive today can be traced back to their origins in the late Paleoziec period. Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals that primarily inhibit South America and Australia. Marsupials are one of the three remaining extant of mammals and has many mammalian characteristics. Molecular data suggests that marsupials are an extant mammal clade from the mammal sub-class; Theria (Van Rheede et al, 2006). Marsupials belong to the Metatheria clade and emerged during the Cretaceous period. They dominate the mammalian wildlife in Australia and predominantly inhabit the southern hemisphere, apart from one species inhabiting North America. Marsupials have 280 extant species (No-wak 1991). They are separated into two separate cohorts; Ameridelphia and Australidelphia. Common marsupials include; kangaroos, koalas, wombats and possums. They are characterised by their distinct pouch, in which they carry their young. Marsupials have evolved, along with placental mammals, from Therian mammals. Molecular data suggests that Marsupials separated from Eutherian (placental) mammals approximately 90 million years ago. Australia is the main habitat for marsupials, however there are some in South and North America. As Australia separated from…

Australian Red Kangaroo The Animal Kingdom consists of many different types of animals, but a very unique one is the Kangaroo. This animal is known as a marsupial, who happens to carries their offspring, otherwise known as a joey, in a "skin" pouch on the front of their bodies. Using their large powerful legs, kangaroos hop from place to place. These herbivores, depending on the type can live up to 20 years. Kangaroos originate from Australia, however, they can be found virtually any place on…

Biogeography It shows how the past and present geographical distribution of organisms played a role in their evolution.Also, how species are distributed in accordance to the genetic relationships they share with other organisms. Marsupials and Placental Mammals Marsupials animals are almost exclusively found in Australia, while Placental mammals are very rare there. There are fossils of marsupials in North America, and South America. 30 million years ago South America and Australia…

Habitat: highest branches of eucalyptus trees, known as the gum tree. In Aborigine language, the word “koala” means “no water”. Koalas are nocturnal marsupials famous for spending most of their lives asleep in trees. During the day they doze, tucked into forks or nooks in the trees, sleeping for up to 18 hours. This sedentary lifestyle can be attributed to the fact they have unusually small brains and survive on a diet of nutrient-poor leaves. When not asleep a koala feeds on eucalyptus leaves,…

Behavior Although mostly terrestrial, Didelphis virginiana also uses arboreal and aquatic locomotion. On the ground, its gait resembles that of primitive mammals [6], which is unsurprising given that opossum-like mammals first appeared over 65 million years ago around the time when the dinosaurs were going extinct [12]. Though the opossum’s arboreal locomotion is aided by the adaptations mentioned earlier, it is still relatively slow and clumsy. However, it is a strong – if slow – swimmer, and…

Being the second largest marsupial in Australia, the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) is a very well-known species of kangaroo. It belongs to the class Mammalia and the average lifespan is 8-10 years. The maximum body structure is 7 feet tall and 120 pounds. Eastern grey kangaroos can reach speeds over 35 miles an hour, jump 6 feet high, and cover 25 feet across. That’s twice as far as the average 12-year-old girl’s long jump! In order to survive, animals have physical body parts,…

The David Fleay Wildlife Park Applied Theatre Project, uses Theatre in Education through roving theatre, interactive performance and a post-performance workshop for young children. This will take place at David Fleay’s Wildlife Park in Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast over five days during a week of the September school holidays. The purpose of this work is to educate young children about why it is important to preserve Australia’s native flora and fauna, why it is in danger, and what they themselves…

Image seeing a mammal with a bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver and a fur like an otter. It might be hard to believe but actually this is a description of a platypus. These fascinating mammals have many unique characteristics that make them different from other animals these include their diet, their habitat and their defense meckisiam. Let's explore the platypus’s diet. The platypus spends 12 hours on an average day searching for food. A platypus is a carnivore so their diet consist of…

Since finally breaking away from Antarctica and South America approximately 55 million years ago, Australia’s animals have evolved in isolation under the influence of a number of major climatic changes. As a result of this, the Australian continent today contains a diverse and unique collection of fauna vastly different to that found elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately, Australia’s unique biodiversity today faces new and potentially devastating threats, a consequence of a number of…

Monotremes have small hatchlings that rely on lactation milk as a nutritional source. Eutherians, the mammalian line that evolved placenta resulting in intrauterine development, have young that heavily rely on milk. The milk in Eutherians does not change through a young’s development and its composition is constant. Marsupials, in comparison to Monotremes and Eutharians, have one of the most complicated and specific lactation systems. Their milk is constantly changing in order to better cater to…