Marsupials (lower animals) (Metatheria) Marsupials, with the exception of American possums, are common in Australia and on adjacent islands. Their placenta is absent or poorly expressed, the cubs are born after a short period of uterine development, poorly developed. There are about 250 species of marsupials, among them there are insectivorous, predatory and herbivorous forms.

Kangaroo is a marsupial

The length of their body, including the length of the tail, ranges from 10 cm (Kimberley marsupial mouse) to 3 m (large gray kangaroo). Marsupials are more highly organized animals than monotremes: their body temperature is higher (average 36 oC). Characteristic marsupials - the presence of the so-called marsupial bones (special bones of the pelvis). Most marsupials have a pouch for bearing cubs, but not all of them have it equally developed, there are species in which the pouch is missing.

Marsupials are distinguished by a special structure of the lower jaw, the lower (posterior) ends of which are bent inward. Their coracoid bone is fused with the scapula. The teeth of marsupials are represented by incisors (divided into multi-incisor and two-incisor) and molars, which have blunt tubercles, there are no fangs or they are underdeveloped. The mammary glands of animals have nipples, to which newly born cubs are attached. The mammary ducts open at the edge of the nipples, as in monkeys and humans, and not into an internal reservoir, as in most mammals. An underdeveloped newborn cub is attached to the nipple in the bag, and its further development proceeds in it. The size of a newborn large gray kangaroo does not exceed 25 mm, in others it is even smaller (up to 7 mm). Milk is injected into the baby's mouth by contraction of special muscles of the mammary glands. The baby, despite its underdevelopment, is so firmly attached to the nipple that it is difficult to separate it. Usually the number of nipples corresponds to the number of cubs.

Different types of marsupials spend a different period in the bag until the moment when the cub is able to feed on food other than milk. The mother usually looks for a nest or den in advance, where the children live for some time under her supervision. Marsupials live in various places: forests, steppes, mountains; can run, climb, live in burrows and underground. Of the marsupials, various species of kangaroos are well known, moving by jumping on highly developed hind limbs; shortened forelimbs serve to capture food. The predatory marsupial wolf, almost completely exterminated, resembles a dog in appearance.

The leaf-eating marsupial koala bear lives on eucalyptus trees. There are marsupial martens, marsupial squirrels and marsupial flying squirrels leading an arboreal lifestyle. Blind marsupial moles live in the soil. The most primitive of marsupials - opossums - inhabit the American continent. Opossums are almost omnivores. Possum fur is used to make outerwear, the meat is edible. In general, many marsupials provide valuable furs, and kangaroo meat good quality. In the Paleogene, they were widespread, but later (except for Australia and America) they were replaced by highly organized mammals.

Australia is unique, but there are absolutely no ruminants, thick-skinned mammals and monkeys. Marsupials predominate, having a large skin fold on the abdomen. Their cubs are born very small, hairless, blind and incapable of independent life. After birth, they crawl into a bag that contains nipples with milk inside, and grow up there. Australia's animals are interesting, most of them are found nowhere else in the world.

List of animals of Australia

In this country, there are many species that live both throughout the continent, and only in some areas.

Animals of Australia: a list of the main representatives:

• kangaroo;
• rabbit;
• Moloch;
• opossum;
• couscous;
• ant-eater;
• Tasmanian devil;
• flying squirrel;
• bandicoot;
• wombat;
• marsupial mole;
• snake-necked turtle;
• echidna;
• combed crocodile;
• tuatara;
• street;
• short-tailed skink;
• snakes;
• sloth.

This list is far from complete, many species are listed in the Red Book and are on the verge of extinction.

Marsupials of Australia are the main inhabitants

In this country, over 140 varieties different types such animals, the most famous are kangaroos, their population numbers more than 60 million. There are 55 species in total. These animals of Australia come in different sizes, their weight is from 0.5 to 90 kg. Outside the city, they are quite common. You can watch them from afar on the small island of Kangaroo and on the Flinders Ridge. If you want to take a closer look at them, then you should visit the Kosciuszko and Namadzhi parks, as well as Maria's Island or Pebbly Beach. If the area is sparsely populated, then these animals can be found quite often and right on the roads.

Another common species is the koala. Many people think that this is a small bear, but this is not true. You can watch koalas in the east of Australia, mainly on the coast. The most popular habitats are Port Stephens and Tidbinbilla and Lone Pine Game Reserves, Yanchep Park and Phillip Island.

Wombats are the marsupials of Australia. Quite obese, living in burrows and often reach 36 kg. It is not easy to find them in a normal habitat, but still possible. To do this, you need to visit Australian parks and the Wilson Promontory Peninsula. I also call them Australian rabbits. Although the last wombat is similar only in general outlines. But compared to a rabbit, it is very large.

mammals

There are no large predators on the continent. The largest on land is the dingo, the world famous wild dog. What other animals are there in Australia: spotted martens, Tasmanian devils and anteaters. In size, they are no larger than an ordinary domestic cat.

Dingoes inhabit the entire territory of the continent, with the exception of Tasmania. They are found in the Kimberley, Fraser Island and the deserts of North and South Australia. Tasmanian devils are found exclusively on the island of the same name. This is a unique rare animal, listed in the Red Book. On the island of Tasmania, there are also several rare species of parrots that can only be seen there. Spotted martens are generally an endangered species, so it is almost impossible to see them under normal conditions. The only place where you can try to find them is the forests of Tasmania and the South of Australia, occasionally in Queensland. The rabbit bandicoot, which can be found in the François Peron National Park, is very interesting.

single pass

Only animal world Australia has this look. Otherwise they are called oviparous. For example, the platypus. It has a beak like a duck, waterproof fur and small webbed feet. Lives in ditches, which he digs himself. Shy, often hiding. This “miracle” lives in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, on Lake Elizabeth and Cradle Mountain and Great Otway parks. Or in northern South New Wales and Queensland.

Australia's dangerous animals on land and at sea

Living creatures that should be feared in Australia live not only on land, but also in water. For example, the bite of a geographic cone (sea mollusc) is fatal. Death occurs within one minute. Its venom consists of various peptides and is considered the most dangerous and powerful in the world.

The king mulga is one of the most venomous snakes in Australia. It can reach two meters in length, even just one of its bites can be fatal. The poison is released in large doses and instantly spreads throughout the body.

Scorpions are practically the most poisonous insects in the country. Stingrays, which easily pierce not only human skin, but sometimes even the bottom of boats, if a large individual comes across. The thorn of the fish pierces the human body, and the poison spreads throughout the body. The tiger shark is one of the four most dangerous in the world.

The most dangerous animals in Australia:

danger in the water

Now a little about marine life. Of the largest stand out: dugong, whales, killer whales, dolphins and, of course, sharks. Whales can always be seen from May to November inclusive, in the east and west of Australia. Travel agencies even offer joint sailing with them. But tourists come to Kangaroo Island to admire peaceful fur seals.

Most of the mammals known to us, such as bison, hedgehog, mole, lion, elephant, wolf and bear, belong to the placental class that inhabit Europe, Asia, Africa and both Americas. Another infraclass of viviparous mammals, marsupials, live mainly in Australia. The earliest marsupial fossils found in Canada are over 70 million years old, which means that their evolution began much earlier.

Scientists still argue about the place of origin of marsupials, suggesting that it could be any of the Americas. After 40-50 million years ago, Australia separated from the hypothetical continent of Gondwana, which, in addition to it, united modern Antarctica, South America, India and Africa, it became, as it were, a huge "island", animal and vegetable world which began to develop in its own, independent way. In this world, marsupials did not meet competition from other, more highly organized mammals, which led to two consequences.

Opossum

Firstly, marsupials differ in the placental structure of the brain and embryonic development. Secondly, it is precisely due to isolation and lack of competition that the evolution of marsupials led to the formation of many forms adapted to a wide variety of habitat conditions. Most species of marsupials in general structure and way of life resemble placental mammals living in similar conditions in Europe, Africa or America. Although marsupials inhabit mainly Tasmania, several species live in South and North America, New Guinea and adjacent islands, and some of them were introduced by humans to New Zealand.

marsupial marten

Interesting to know. Marsupials number 80 genera and about 250 species, they consist of two main groups: the opossums of South and North America and the Australian-New Guinean group, whose representatives are hugely diverse. appearance and variability of adaptation to different living conditions.

Diversity and similarity of marsupial species

Well-known to us kangaroos in their way of life are very reminiscent of herbivorous ungulate mammals such as deer, antelopes and zebras. Philanders and bendicoots resemble a hare in behavior and lifestyle, and bilbies resemble a rabbit. The Tasmanian devil is similar to a hyena, only very small with a long tail. Marsupial flying squirrels are an Australian analogue of ordinary flying squirrels, the marsupial mole looks very similar to the common mole, although it is not related to it.

Couscous and tree-kangaroos eat, look and behave like small monkeys, and the climbing marsupial flying squirrel can be compared to a lemur. Small marsupial mice and related species resemble our mice and shrews. Rocky kangaroos play the same role in the natural environment of Australia as goats or wild sheep. The wombat is somewhat similar to the South American, and the paws of the floater (japok) are equipped with flippers, like an otter, with which it is similar in behavior and living conditions.

marsupial anteater

Little brain. The marsupial brain in relation to the whole body is much smaller than the brain of a placental mammal. This fact is often cited as evidence of more low level development and as the reason that marsupials lose out in competition with other mammals brought to Australia by humans. On the other hand, the complex behavior of many marsupials, associated with the structure of the nest or the search for food, does not at all indicate their "stupidity".

Kuzu is an "Australian" squirrel. There are several types of marsupial "cats" and "weasels", and the extinct marsupial wolf hunted in the same way as our European one. There is even a marsupial anteater. The evolution on the island has also led to the appearance of several species that have no analogues on other continents. One of these species is the symbol of Australia -.

marsupial wolf

marsupial bear koala

However, if we consider the fauna of marsupials as a whole, one can find one important feature that distinguishes them from placentals. Even taking into account the recently extinct marsupial wolf and the fossil marsupial tiger, it can be said that very few large predators lived and still live in Australia. The largest marsupial predators currently living in Australia are about the size of a cat or a little more.

Short pregnancy and unusual bag

The way of birth and development of marsupials is characteristic and unusual. Pregnancy lasts a very short time, and the babies are born on extremely early stage development. Newborn opossums are about the size of a bee, and baby kangaroos are slightly larger than a grain of beans. The baby marsupial is born near the base of the mother's tail, and from here, wriggling like a lizard, it crawls into the bag along a strip of wool that the female has moistened with her tongue.

Sensation. When at the beginning of the 16th century the navigator Pison, who served under the command, brought the first opossum from Brazil to Europe, this animal caused a real sensation. Even the King and Queen of Spain stuck their fingers into the bag to make sure there really was a baby inside.

marsupial mouse

marsupial flying squirrel

The bag is formed by a fold of skin on the abdomen. Its depth and closure varies greatly between species, from a barely marked fold in some small marsupials to a waterproof pouch of a swimmer. The newborn gets into it and clings to the nipple, which expands and clogs the baby's mouth as firmly as a wine cork clogs a bottle, as a result of which the sucker is attached to the power source. It grows and develops in the bag even after it leaves it - from time to time it returns there, escaping from danger or simply to feed.

marsupial kangaroo

How does the baby get into the bag? There used to be a lot of incredible speculation about how a baby marsupial gets into a pouch. For example, opossums, according to the prevailing version, bred by rubbing each other with their noses. Some time later, the female would stick her nose into her pouch and blow her babies into it. This tale was born, no doubt, due to the fact that the female opossum puts her muzzle into her bag before giving birth and carefully licks it from the inside. She does this, however, for hygienic purposes, and not because small opossums are born through the nose.

In contact with

Marsupials are a special group of mammals that differ from placental and oviparous features of reproduction and development of the embryo. Currently, scientists have more than 250 various kinds of these animals. There are 120 species in Australia, 90 species in America (South and Central), and 50 species in New Guinea.

Characteristics

Cubs are born very small (the largest reach 3 cm at birth - in a large red kangaroo) and underdeveloped. After birth, they immediately, climbing into the bag - a special fold on the stomach, stick to the nipple and begin to drink milk.

In this state, receiving nutrients and being warm and protected, they remain for quite a long time. In, for example, it should take about six months before the cub begins to look out or crawl out of the bag.

The bag is a special fold on the abdomen, which is tightly closed by muscle contraction and opens forward and sometimes back, depending on the type of animal. Some species of the smallest marsupials do not have a bag, but there is only an absolutely undeveloped small fold, so the cubs are forced to hide in the wool.

Also, this detachment of mammals has a certain structure of the pelvic bones and abdominal cavity. They have the so-called marsupial bones, which strengthen the abdominal wall and at the same time protect the babies in the bag from the pressure of the mother's insides.

The brain of these animals is smaller and much simpler than that of placental mammals, so their mental abilities are less developed.

Habitat

Currently, marsupials are most widely distributed in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Guinea and other nearby islands of Oceania. In South and North America, the opossum has survived - the only species of marsupial that lives on these continents. He managed to survive after the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama, which connected the two continents more than 3 million years ago.

On other continents, marsupials do not live in natural conditions. Scientists explain this by saying that animals at a higher stage of development supplanted them many years ago. And marsupials, remaining at their rather primitive level of development, survived only in America and Oceania, which are isolated from other continents.

Lifestyle

In their behavior, lifestyle, nutrition and number of individuals, marsupials are quite different from each other. Some of them are predators (marsupial anteater,) some are herbivores (koala,), some are diurnal, others are nocturnal, many live on the ground, but there are those who live on trees or spend most of their lives in water.

If you do not take into account that the development and bearing of the cub takes place in a special bag, then in many ways these animals are similar to their placental counterparts. The marsupial wolf resembles a dog; development.

• The smallest representative of marsupials -