The marsupial animals they are a special class within the family of mammals, these animals are viviparous and have a lower birth record of their offspring, for this unfortunate reason they are currently endangered mammals. In this post we will talk in detail about these animals.
What are Marsupial Animals?
The planet earth has such a large and incredible variety of living beings, that sometimes we are amazed by what we can find and learn about on it, this is the reason why we should worry about caring for and protecting it, an example of this biological diversity are the marsupial animals.
These are a special type of mammals, which unlike the others that are born from the placenta and have a very complete formation process, they develop in the internal placenta, which means that their embryos are in a type of bag external. It should be noted that some of these species are endangered mammals.
The most common in common mammalian animals is that during their gestation period inside the mother's uterus, they are fed through the placenta, which means that the female is in charge of providing food through blood and that depends on the offspring, these are called placental mammals.
However, the marsupial animals they do not carry out the gestation within their mother's uterus and are born long before reaching their full development, based on this they are transferred to the mother's marsupium which is located in the front part, which is where the nipples are located, In this way, the embryos are suckled with breast milk, which is their only food until they are fully formed.
Gestation is brief and their development culminates in the marsupium or abdominal bag, although some may not have it and the young are also carried by the mother adhering to her breasts.
Characteristics of Marsupial Animals
The marsupial animals they have a very developed sense of smell and generally have a height that ranges from 10 centimeters and can reach up to more than 150 centimeters, their main and most characteristic feature is a long and strong tail, which in some cases even turns out to be a means of locomotion for themselves.
As we mentioned before, the marsupial animals they can be differentiated from mammals that are born from the placenta, due to their early birth and subsequent development in the marsupial bag, it should be noted that this bag is supported by bones, which do not exist in placentals.
Marsupials have a very narrow skull and a very firm dental structure, with two triangular molars, which helps them when feeding and gives them a strong bite to defend themselves. In the case of the reproductive system, females have a double vagina and uterus, while males have a divided penis.
They have a very wide distribution, in addition to being able to inhabit different ecosystems, such as trees, land, and there are even some that can live a large part of their lives in the water. Regarding eating habits, the diet of the marsupial animals It can vary a lot depending on the species, since there are herbivores, carnivores, insectivores, omnivores and nectarivores.
Examples of Marsupial Animals
The marsupial animals They are more numerous than anyone can believe, since so far more than 270 different kinds of marsupials are known and 70 of these can be found in the American continent, while the remaining 200 are found in the Australian region, which is the region where more animals of this species can be located.
Australian marsupials carry their young in the bag that is able to breathe through the skin, since their lungs take longer to develop, and the first thing they unwrap are their limbs, and then continue with the rest of organs. Between the marsupial animals best known, we can find the following:
Koalas
These are small animals that live in eastern Australia and eat eucalyptus leaves, which is their favorite food and this is the tree where they commonly live, their body is full of very thick hairs, they love to spend their time sleeping.
The female koala can reproduce when she is 3 to 4 years old and the males at 4 years old can reproduce, the young of these animals are born without hair, blind and deaf, but their instinct helps them to descend to the marsupial of their parent, where they finish their development cycle for six more months, then come out of the bag and hang on their mom's back, they are with her for about a year.
Kangaroo
This is a mammal that has a lifespan that is close to 18 years, one of its most notorious characteristics are its hind legs with which it moves by jumping, the gestation period of these animals is very close to 30 days , then makes its way to the pouch where it ends its training for another 5 months.
Tasmanian Devil
The females of this species of marsupial, can reach their reproductive stage at 2 years and have a gestation period that lasts approximately 21 days, the females give birth to 2 to 3 pups, these are molded in each nipple of the marsupium and in it they spend 4 months to complete their training period.
Opossum
The opossum has a height that ranges from 50 centimeters, the animal is ready for its reproduction process at 10 months of age and can reproduce up to 3 times in a year, its fertilization period is approximately 14 days and its litter can contain up to more than 5 young, the development time in the marsupial lasts about 50 days, then they crawl out of the bag and begin to fend for themselves.
prairie dog
This is a rodent that is a family of squirrels and marmots, they are located in North American territories and in Mexico, they are herbivores and the colors of their body are ash yellow and light brown. They have a sharp black nose, rounded ears, a short tail and small eyes.
They are sexually ready for reproduction after 2 years of life, the litter can have from 2 to 5 offspring, as occurs with most marsupials, their offspring are formed after birth, they emerge hairless and blind, but after 5 weeks can develop sight.
Less Recognized Marsupial Animals
Amongst the marsupial animals extant, kangaroos and koalas are the best known, both being Australian typical animals and became a symbol of that region, these are recognized in part thanks to their size. On the other hand, there is also a large number of marsupials that are smaller in size and very little recognized by humans, among these are the following:
marsupial mouse
This is a marsupial whose scientific name is Sminthopsis, similar to a field mouse with a long tail, but apart from its name there is no family relationship with the species of mice, only that they are called that simply because of their physical resemblance.
Wombat
This marsupial is also known as wombats, while its scientific name is Vombatidae, they are small and with a physical appearance very similar to that of a small bear, they have very short legs and they can be found on the islands of Tasmania or Australia, they can reach weighing approximately 35 kilograms.
numbat
It is a marsupial with the scientific name Myrmecobius, which lives in very specific territories of Australia, one of its main characteristics is that it has a striped back and face, they have a certain resemblance to a zebra in their fur and the rest of their body is covered for brown hair. It is viviparous and one of the marsupial animals more interesting because it does not have a pouch, something very characteristic of its kind.
Their gestation period is very short, lasting only 2 weeks and during this time their offspring fully develop, due to not having the marsupial bag, the females tend to warm their children with their fur. For the most part, these animals are born in litters and immediately proceed to stick to the mother's breasts to feed until their own fur grows out.
flying squirrels
This is a marsupial whose scientific name is Pteromyini, it is one of the 45 types of marsupial species that bear this name, they have a great resemblance to squirrels and they love to jump from tree to tree.
Rock Wallaby
This marsupial animal is called Petrogale, it has a certain resemblance to kangaroos, although these are a little smaller and like to live in areas that are difficult to access, they are viviparous animals and have marsupials to form their young.
These differ from kangaroos due to their colors that are very striking and varied, in addition to the fact that their legs are less long. These can generate two types of milk, one for when the young are babies and another for when they are adults.
marsupial mole
It is a marsupial animal that is scientifically known as Notoryctes Typhlops, its fur is white and they live under the ground in the large regions of Australia, especially in the central areas.
Sheep Weasel
This little animal is scattered throughout South America, it is easy to adapt to any type of environment, they are even found in urban areas, they can live a maximum of 4 years, females are smaller than males and both have long tails almost the same size as their bodies.
They can reproduce up to 3 times in a year, while their gestation lasts about 14 days, then they pass to the mother's breasts where they last about six weeks, then they mount on the back of the parent and only get down to eat from her breast. This process can take up to 6 months.
Classification of Marsupial Animals
The classification of marsupials is a bit controversial, however the most frequent divides it into two groups, according to two precise perspectives that are the following:
According to the Geographical Distribution area
That is, the Ameri Delphi that correspond to the marsupial animals of America and the Australis Delphi, who are those who inhabit Australia, New Guinea and the islands closest to these territories.
Argentine marsupials have 24 species that are spread from northern Argentina to the grasslands of Patagonia, while Colombian marsupials have about 29 classes, and some of them can only be found in this region.
The marsupial animals from Mexico correspond to a small group of these species that inhabits the region, they are distributed throughout all of Central America and in some areas of South America. Australian marsupials are the most traditional on planet earth and have more than 200 kinds.
According to the number of incisors in their jaws
The marsupial animals They can also be related to particular characteristics of the toes, and in turn are classified as diprotodonts, that is, they only have two incisors and deformed fingers that seem to have two nails, and on the other hand there are the canine polyprop odontos.
Reproduction of Marsupial Animals
The reproduction of marsupial animals It is carried out through the sexual act and the larger species usually give birth to a single calf, while the smallest give birth to litters. The gestation time of these animals is very short and does not exceed two months.
At the time of their birth, marsupials generally do not have hairs and on occasions they can be born blind and deaf, that is why the fulfillment of their second period of development is so important. Marsupial females have three vaginas, two on the sides where fertilization begins and one in the center, which would be where the young come from.
On the other hand, males have a divided penis, it is only the case of marsupial moles and macropods that do not have it that way. They only use their penis for the reproduction process, since it is separated from the urinary tract, however, the structure of their glans changes depending on the type of marsupial animal.
Origin and Habitat of Marsupial Animals
The marsupial animals they spend their nights in very contradictory places, finding very different types among them, this is the result of their adaptation process, they are a group of terrestrial mammals and a predominant part of the vertebrate fauna. They are native mainly to Australia and Africa.
Marsupials were created in the early Cretaceous, long before mammals born from placentas, they were already widespread in part of the continental land and existed in places where they are no longer found, such as Asia.
In other times it was thought that marsupial mammals were more primitive than placental mammals, depending on their evolutionary process, but it is now known that both arose from a common ancestor around 100 million years ago, in the age of the dinosaurs.
It should be noted that one of the problems faced by marsupial animals, it is because they live in very specific places, that is why their herds are greatly affected by the destruction of habitats.
All this happens thanks to the marsupial animals they are very susceptible to changes in their environment, so they are very adapted to their environment and do not adapt easily to other types of changes. They also face the problem of hunting and illegal trade, from which they should be protected, so that they do not run the risk of becoming extinct.
American marsupials
The marsupial animals together with the armadillos, sloths and anteaters, they were the only survivors of the fauna existing in the tertiary, which dates back to the middle Jurassic era, in the midst of the different types of dinosaurs, which was about 120 million years ago, which means that these animals are very old.
It should be noted that many assume that the origin of marsupials is in North America, since the oldest fossil of a marsupial can be found there, which dates back to approximately 65 million years, at the time of the final Cretaceous, where the south of America was not yet completely separated from the north, there is an entrance that the marsupials used to expand as founders of the South American mammalian fauna.
The taxonomy of the American marsupials called Ameridelphia is made up of two orders:
- didelphimorphia: These make up the largest number of marsupials located in America today, although it is also the largest on the planet compared to Australian marsupials. Fundamentally they are possums, marmosas and weasels, which have 19 genera and 103 species.
- paucituberculata: These are the ones named runcho mice or shrew opossums, they have only 3 genera and 6 species.
Curiosities of the Marsupial Animals
- In Tasmania there are many poppy crops and it is legal to use them in this region, so kangaroos love to eat these plants, which can cause them a stimulating effect, which can make them go around in circles, spin and perform strange gestures. It is said that like these, koalas also consume them and it is partly what helps them to be so lazy.
- There was a marsupial that was unique, but unfortunately it is now extinct, it had something called a hammer tooth, which it used to eat snails and be able to crush them more easily, however currently it is said that there is one that is similar to a lizard and that it has these same hammer teeth.
- It is said that the strangest marsupial on the planet is the so-called rat kangaroo, whose scientific name is Potorous Gilbertii and it was thought that it was extinct, however, it was discovered that they are still in existence today, but in danger of extinction, based on To this, reserves have been founded to protect them from foxes, cats and any type of predator.
- Kangaroos are capable of adopting offspring of other species than their own, since some kangaroo mothers change their own children for others, it is said that they do this when they feel the stalking of predators, and with fear they lose the ability to distinguish their young, so when they flee they take the first thing they find, even if it is not their children.
- There are some marsupials that resemble mice, the male usually mates and copulates frantically until he dies, these animals are from the Dasiuro formos marsupial genus and from the Dasyuridae family, it is said that their sexual practices are suicidal and can take 12 to 14 hours into the mating process.
Importance of Marsupial Animals
These animals have very little importance for some people or are simply not recognized, one of the main causes of this is because they are nocturnal animals, and therefore they are rarely seen and have little economic importance, however these mammalian animals are part of human and daily life, since it is probable that they can be observed in any part of the countryside or in the city.
As is the case of the rabipelado, which has the scientific name Didelphis marsupialis and these can be found in both urban and rural areas, there are even places where they are consumed as protein, which means that they are hunted for human consumption, but These animals like to feed on chickens and poultry.
This species is of great importance, thanks to the fact that several investigations show that the common rabipelado can serve as a reservoir in the cycles of different parasitic diseases, as in the case of Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis, which is why they are very useful. to carry out scientific research on these diseases.