Vocabulary Word
Word: marsupial
Definition: one of a family of mammals that nurse their offspring in a pouch(pocket of skin or leather); CF. kangaroo, opossum, wombat
Definition: one of a family of mammals that nurse their offspring in a pouch(pocket of skin or leather); CF. kangaroo, opossum, wombat
Sentences Containing 'marsupial'
It is admitted by most evolutionists that mammals are descended from a marsupial form; and if so, the mammary glands will have been at first developed within the marsupial sack.
Mr. Mivart then asks how did natural selection remove in the adult kangaroo (and in most other mammals, on the assumption that they are descended from a marsupial form), "this at least perfectly innocent and harmless structure?"
With respect to the mammae of the higher animals, the most probable conjecture is that primordially the cutaneous glands over the whole surface of a marsupial sack secreted a nutritious fluid; and that these glands were improved in function through natural selection, and concentrated into a confined area, in which case they would have formed a mamma.
So is the resemblance between a mouse and a shrew-mouse (Sorex), which belong to different orders; and the still closer resemblance, insisted on by Mr. Mivart, between the mouse and a small marsupial animal (Antechinus) of Australia.
Therefore, we must suppose either that all Rodents, including the bizcacha, branched off from some ancient Marsupial, which will naturally have been more or less intermediate in character with respect to all existing Marsupials; or that both Rodents and Marsupials branched off from a common progenitor, and that both groups have since undergone much modification in divergent directions.
On either view we must suppose that the bizcacha has retained, by inheritance, more of the character of its ancient progenitor than have other Rodents; and therefore it will not be specially related to any one existing Marsupial, but indirectly to all or nearly all Marsupials, from having partially retained the character of their common progenitor, or of some early member of the group.
An educational exhibit inside the house focuses on marsupial reproduction.
The great-tailed triok (Dactylopsila megalura) is a species of marsupial in the Petauridae family.
The giant bandicoot ("Peroryctes broadbenti") is a species of marsupial in the Peramelidae family.
Although it is a marsupial, the Tasmanian pygmy possum superficially resembles a dormouse, and it is the smallest of all the known species of possum.
The Ifola tree-kangaroo ("Dendrolagus notatus") is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family.
The northern brown bandicoot ("Isoodon macrourus"), a marsupial species, is a bandicoot found only on the northern and eastern coasts of Australia and nearby islands, mainly Papua New Guinea.
On average it weighs . This marsupial has a thick harsh coat but is not spiny.
This marsupial forages alone during the night and has a keen sense of smell.
This solitary marsupial is aggressive only towards others of its species.
By this time, the marsupial young are capable of sustaining endothermy on their own.
The northern glider (Petaurus abidi) is a species of marsupial in the Petauridae family.
The broad-striped dasyure ("Paramurexia rothschildi") is a species of marsupial in the Dasyuridae family.
Mexico's 7 marsupial genera compare to 1 in North America north of Mexico, , , 52 in Australia, and 2 in Sulawesi.
The brushtail possums are the members of the genus, Trichosurus, a genus of marsupial in the Phalangeridae family.