THE MAMMALS 213 



As soon as born they are placed by the mother in a pouch, 

 or marsupium, on the under side of the body. Here they 

 receive nutriment from the mammary glands and are 

 kept warm and protected from enemies. The marsupials 

 are remarkable for their geographical distribution. With 

 the exception of the opossum family they are all confined 

 to Australia and neighboring islands, although remains of 

 their skeletons occur in "the deposits of past geological ages 

 in all the continents of the globe. Where the marsupials 

 have been brought into competition with the higher mam- 



FIG. 165. Kangaroo. 



mals they have had to succumb; only in Australia which 

 has been isolated from the rest of the world and kept 

 free from serious invasion by other mammals, do we find the 

 marsupials holding their own. 



Among the largest of the marsupials are the kangaroos 

 which are remarkable for their long hind legs adapted for 

 jumping, and their short fore legs. There is a great diversity 

 among the marsupials ; some are herbivorous, some like the 

 "Tasmanian tigers" are carnivorous, some burrow in the 

 ground like the moles, and still others are arboreal. Nature 

 has adapted them to various modes of life very much as she 



