What is a Marsupial?
Marsupials
A marsupial, aka pouched mammal, is called so due to the fact that the adult females have a marsupium, or pouch. This pouch is typically located outside the body. The marsupium serves as a safe haven for the joeys to develop and grow.
Termed placental mammals, most female mammals tend to give birth outside the body. While developing inside mom. The embryo is connected to her supply of blood and nutrients via a placenta. Marsupials also bare live young. However, the embryo then climbs from the birth canal to mom’s pouch or marsupium. Once in the pouch, the joey latches on to a nipple and is then attached to its mother, as the nipple swells in their mouth making it impossible to leave until the embryo has become more fully developed.
Where Do They Live?
Even though marsupials are typically associated with Australia, North, Central, and South America all have marsupials as well. Known as the opossum. There are a large variety of opossums in the Americas. Did you know that mountain pygmy-possums live in the Australian Alps. They are the only known marsupial to live at high altitudes with tons of snow.
What Do They Eat?
Opossums tend to be great at cleaning up fallen, decaying fruit, decaying animals (carrion), trash, and even eat a huge amount of ticks each night. If you happen upon one, around your house, at night, please leave it alone. They are great at being nature’s janitors, but they are very shy and protective. They can also be very dangerous if threatened. Especially if one is a mom protecting her young joeys.
Marsupials are great pollinators and seed distributors, due to what they eat. Kangaroos, wombats, and koalas are herbivores (eat plant matter). Some other marsupials are omnivores (eat plant and animal matter), and some are carnivores (eat meat).
Social and Family Life
Koalas and kangaroos typically have just 1 joey. Most other marsupials birth multiple joeys. However, when pouched animals have multiple babies, they typically migrate onto mom’s back when they have outgrown the marsupium. Marsupials tend to be solitary; only coming together to mate, then they part ways again. The female raises the joeys on her own.
When joeys are born, they are blind and helpless. This is the reason for the pouch. It helps to protect the young till they develop into more self sustaining critters and then they leave mom’s pouch to cling to her fur until they are mature enough to tackle life head-on.
Marsupial Articles
For more details about marsupials, check out these cool critters I’ve written about (more to come, in time):