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…

The Virginia Opossum is a species of marsupial originating in North America. Most notably recognized for their tendency to faun death when threatened, they are also the only marsupials found north of Mexico. Didelphis virginiana, also known as the opossum, belongs to the Animalia kingdom. They are a vertebrate animal; therefore, they belong to the Chordata phylum. Mammals are sorted into the Mammalia class, and American Marsupials are in the Didelphimorphia order. American opossums and…

spend time bulking up then they must learn to fight the other bucks for the does mating rights of the season then once they have their mating rights they breed the does and once the does get pregnant they carry the babies for up to 12 months then the bucks that are born continue this life cycle until one must get sick, injured or just dies from old age. the babies of the buck carry on the genes of the family from generation from generation and then they repeat this life cycle over again and then…

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,…

The Koala, most commonly called the Koala Bear, is actually not a bear, but a Marsupial. A Marsupial is an animal that gives birth to is joey while they are still in the embryonic stage, the joey crawls into the mother’s pouch and is raised there, very much the same way as the Kangaroo (Grzimek, 1967). The Koala is an Herbivore, living mainly on the Eucalyptus plant. The consume on the average of 2.5 pounds of Eucalyptus leaves daily and do not require additional water as they receive…

them to go to the pouch and drink milk. That is the instinct the little baby kangaroos have the second they are born(“ Wexo 8 ”). Closing Kangaroos are one or nature's best and most fascinating creatures. Visitors don't look at them much in the zoo because they think they do nothing special but they are special in many ways. Some people think they come in one color but they come in a lot of colors. This unique creature is gray, orange, and red and can only be found in specific places. The…

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…

Intro What is the biggest hopping animal, an excellent survivor, and a super interesting exhibit at zoos? Kangaroos, super hoppers, are one of the most interesting animals on the planet. There are some really fascinating facts about them too. Their breeding ability to reproduce up to 4 “joeys” at once is important for the population survival.What the kangaroos do when they see danger. Kangaroos are herbivores and eat ferns, leaves, flowers, etc. These super hoppers have a huge variety of…