40 Examples of Marsupials

The marsupials comprise a very large group of mammals, characterized by a common behavior that they have when their calf is born: they transport it in a bag located in the abdomen, precisely a part of the body called the marsupium that is only present in that kind of animals. For example: kowari, numbat, shorttail, opossum.

Marsupials, when developing in this way, have a very short gestation period (between 10 and 14 days) and complete growth within the pouch, which is considered the external environment of the body. This form of gestation is quite associated with their form of reproduction, since these animals belong to the group of the viviparous, but with a reproductive system very different from that of placentals.

The female marsupial It has a double uterus and three vaginas, of which the two lateral ones are used in fertilization and the offspring are born through the central one. Males, for their part, have a sometimes bifid penis with an extra abdominal scrotum. When the young are born, at a very early stage of development, they crawl on a line of saliva to reach the pouch, where they attach to the nipples and remain for a long time.

Examples of marsupial animals

1. Marmosa
2. Marsupial moles
3. Dunnart
4. Opossum
5. Walabi parma
6. Kowari
7. Thylacine
8. Long-tailed kangaroo-rat
9. Bilby
10. Filandro
11. Numbat
12. Tasmanian Devil
13. Opossum Mice
14. Cuoca
15. Thylacinidae (extinct)
16. Eastern wallaby (extinct)
17. Onychogalea lunata (extinct)
18. Red kangaroo
19. Short
20. Western gray kangaroo
21. Sugar glider or sugar glider
22. Monito de Monte
23. Badjcinus (extinct)
24. Opossum
25. Southern Antequino
26. Short nosed echidna
27. Bandicut
28. Antequino
29. Koala
30. Dasiuro
31. Tammar kangaroo
32. Minor Bilbi (extinct)
33. Nimbacino (extinct)
34. Uombat
35. Thylacinus potens (extinct)
36. Couscous
37. Common Ualaru
38. Plan
39. Mulgara

Physical characteristics and behavior of marsupials

This class of animals has a sense of smell very developed and usually have a height that ranges from ten centimeters to more than one and a half meters, and have as main characteristic having a long and strong tail, which in some cases is even a means of locomotion in itself same.

Another common characteristic of marsupials is having a single teething, but groups can be found that have developed very different habits in terms of food. Some species are omnivorous, while others are herbivores: these have developed various ways of eating to take better advantage of the food, since they are not able to digest cellulose because they do not have the enzymes appropriate.

Marsupial classification

It is common for marsupials to be classified according to the region of the planet where they can be found:

Similarities and differences with placentals

The group of marsupial mammals is usually confused with that of the placental mammals, since both have anatomical structures that have the function of maintaining the care of the young once it is born.

However, marsupials give birth much earlier than placentals, and therefore must control the environment of external gestation by months: in the case of placentals, the role of the placenta, where internal gestation occurs, is much more important.

Other distinguishing physical characteristics are that the teeth of the marsupials contains more incisors, which has a temperature somewhat inferior to the placentals, and that it has a brain of a smaller size than these.

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