440 



ZOOLOGT 



In manj' ways this group seems to connect the mammaha with 

 reptiles. 



The second group is known as Marsupalia, l^ecause the 

 mothers are provided with a marsupium,' or pouch, in whicli 

 the young are carried. The young arc horn very imperfectly 

 develojoed. Immediately after birth thej' are placed in the 



Fig. .398. — The spiny ant-eater, Ecliidna acuhala. After Vogt and Spccht. 



marsupium, where they become attached to the mammary 

 glands which lie within the pouch. In this situation the young 

 complete their development. All marsupials arc confined to 

 Australia and adjacent islands, excepting the family of opos- 

 sums (Fig. 399), found only in the Americas. There is thus 

 a great discontinuity in the distribution of marsupials. This 

 is accounted for liy the evidence that formerly the whole world 

 contained marsupials, so that those living to-day are the sepa- 

 rated remnants of that once imiversal race. The opossums are 



^ marsupiutn, a pouch. 



