MAMMALS 



fold, or pouch of skin, the inarsupiuin, on the ventral side 

 of the abdomen. The young are born very immature, and 

 are immediately placed by the mother in this bag, and are 

 there carried for several months. 



Opossum. — As with the kangaroos, there are several 

 species of opossums; but the Virginia opossum, found from 



New York to Texas and 

 south is the best known. 

 The female has a pouch 

 in which the young are 

 carried for some months. 

 They are only about one 

 half inch long when born, 

 and are immediately put 

 in the pouch by the 

 mother. This opossum 

 is about the size of a cat 

 and is dirty white in 

 color. It has a long, 

 naked tail, like a rat's 

 tail, and lives largely in 

 trees (Fig. 206). 



The marsupials are 

 closely related to the egg-laying mammals, for, although 

 they do not actually lay eggs, they come near doing so, as 

 shown by the ver_y immature young. 



Fig. 20G.- 



- Young opossum, 

 ratlike tail. 



Note its 



The Toothless M.\mmals {Edentata) 



The edentates are mammals in wliich the teeth are absent 

 or imperfecdy developed in the adult. Sometimes molars 

 and premolars are pn'e-'^ent, tnd tJietj never for)u roots and do 



