376 MAMMALIA 



The opossum family {Didelphidae) ^ found in America, is dis- 

 tinguished by the presence of a marsupial pouch. This may be 

 absent or relatively shallow as in the case of some species or it may 

 approach the highly developed condition existent in the kangaroo. 

 The young of the Virginia Opossum {Didelphys virginiana) remain 

 for two months with their mother, at first residing in the pouch, 

 then ride around on her back. The opossum feeds on wild fruit, 

 berries, corn, insect larvae, eggs and young birds and mammals. 



Tasmanian marsupials (Family Dasyuridae) have fewer incisor 

 teeth than the American opossum; they lack a cecum and their tail 

 is not prehensile. 



The Murine opossum, a mouse-like form, is found in South 

 America. It is about the size of a chipmunk and lacks an abdominal 

 pouch. 



The Australian ant-eater lacks a pouch and resembles a red 

 squirrel in appearance. The wombats are unwieldy creatures 

 resembling the badger. They have rudimentary cheek-pouches and 

 tail. 



The Kangaroos {Macropodidae) are found in Australia where 

 nearly all land mammals are marsupials. Unlike the opossum and 

 the Tasmanian devily the kangaroo family are all herbivorous. The 

 newly born young are taken by the mother and placed in her pouch 

 where they remain until their eyes open and they have developed 

 hair. For some time after this they return to the pouch from little 

 excursions into the world. When first born, a kangaroo may be 

 not more than an inch long. 



The " Old man " or gray kangaroo reaches a height of over five 

 feet, weighs two hundred pounds and can leap over twenty feet, 

 using its long legs and powerful tail. The red kangaroo with a brick 

 red coat of a very fine, silky texture is the one most frequently seen 

 in captivity. It reaches a height of almost four feet. The rock 

 wallabies (genus Petrogale) do not utilize their tails a great deal in 

 locomotion but use them as balancers. The black-tailed wallaby 

 and the opossum are said to have starved out the other animals on 

 Kawau Island. 



Fossil Relatives of the Marsupialia. — For the most part the 

 marsupials are found as fossils from the Upper Triassic to the 

 present. 



Order 3. Insectivora. — Small, usually terrestrial (but some- 

 times aquatic or arboreal) clawed mammals; feet plantigrade. 



