MAMMALS OF AUSTRALIA i8i 



Order Marsupialia 



As shown in the introduction, the Marsupials are of absorbing 

 interest to scientific zoologists, and they have accordingly been 

 exhaustively studied. Mr. Olfield Thomas, of the British Museum, 

 has done much valuable work, and the results are published in the 

 Catalogue issued by the great institution with which he is con- 

 nected. It is, of course, highly technical, but Mr. Lydekker, in his 

 monograph already referred to, has drawn upon the larger work and 

 given a great deal of interesting information in more popular 

 language. It is to his book that I am indebted for facts concerning 

 structure, etc., which are mentioned hereafter. 



What is a Marsupial ? The name is derived from the word 

 marsupium, or pouch, but this feature is not found in every species, 

 so it will not serve as a definition. A general characteristic of the 

 order is found, says Lydekker, in the imperfect state of development 

 in which the young are born into the world. They are tiny helpless 

 lumps of flesh, and display scarcely any movement. A new-born 

 marsupial is a very ugly object, repelling, indeed, to human eyes, 

 although doubtless the mother thinks it the sweetest little thing in 

 the world. Immediately after birth the young are lifted from the 

 ground by the mother and transferred to her teats. Opening the 

 pouch with her fore-paws, a Kangaroo mother first places the mouth 

 of the helpless babe on to the tip of the nipple, which is hardened 

 and pointed. Of itself the tiny creature could hardly drink of the 

 fount of life-giving liquid to which it is attached, so the doe gently 

 causes the milk to flow into the quivering little body. The young- 

 ster clings to the nipple, which, swelling in its mouth, cannot slip 

 out again. It is asserted by close observers that if the baby Kan- 

 garoo is removed from the teat by force it cannot be attached again, 

 as the organ becomes soft, and the youngster inevitably dies. The 

 lips, which almost form a circle, are provided with muscles specially 

 modified for grasping. The teats in all Marsupials are situated in 

 the abdomen and usually within the pouch. The infant Marsupials 

 remain clinging to the nipples of their mothers until they are 

 sufficiently well developed to perform the usual functions of life. 



The Marsupials possess no placenta, and another feature of the 

 group is the presence in all species, with the exception of the Tas- 

 manian Wolf, where they are only rudimentary, of a pair of bones 



