CHAPTER XIII 
THE ORDER OF POUCHED MAMMALS 
MAR S UP I ALIA 
An animal is said to be “low” in zoological rank according to the distance of its position 
below the highest types of animal life. Thus, a hairless, fish-like mammal, with very simple 
teeth, like a porpoise, is far lower than the monkeys and carnivores. 
As we approach the Orders of mammals which we have been taught to place at the end of the 
list, we encounter some very strange forms, which are of greater interest to the special student 
than some higher forms which are duplicated many times over. Fortunately for our purpose, 
all the Orders of living mammals, save two, are represented in North America. 
Although the Order Marsupialia is too extensive, and the majority of its members too far away, 
to justify its full exposition here, it is desirable to mention all its Families: 
FAMILIES. 
ORDER 
MARSUPIALIA. 
Kangaroos, .... 
Phalancers, . . . 
Wombats, .... 
Caenolestes, . . . 
Bandicoots, .... 
Dasyures and Tas- l 
manian Wolves, . j 
Opossums, .... 
Marsupial Moles, 
MA-CRO-POD'I-DAE, . . 
PHAL-AN-GER'I-DAE , 
PHAS-CO-LO-MY' DAE, 
E-PAN -OR' THI-DAE, . . 
PER-A-MEL’I-DAE, . . . 
DAS-Y-U'RI-DAE, . . \ 
DI-DEL-PHY' I-DAE, . . 
NO-TO-RYC’TI-DAE, . . 
HABITAT. 
\ Australia, New 
) Guinea, Aru Is. 
Australia. 
S. Australia. 
South America. 
j Australia and New 
l Guinea. 
Australia. 
| North, Central and 
i South America. 
Australia. 
Of these eight Families, only two, the first 
and seventh, will be specially noticed. 
Marsupials are distinguished from all other 
mammals by the fact that the female possesses 
in the skin of her abdomen a large, flexible 
pocket, or pouch, in which the nursing glands 
are situated, and in which the young are carried 
for a time after birth, until more fully de- 
veloped. They differ from ordinary mammals in 
being without what is called a pla-cen'ta, which 
is an arrangement of veins by which the blood 
of the mother circulates through the veins of 
the unborn young. In other words, in a marsu- 
pial, the blood of the mother does not circulate 
through the veins of the unborn young. As a re- 
sult, at the time of its birth, the young marsupial 
is a tiny creature, hairless, blind, and utterly 
helpless. Even the young of a large kangaroo 
looks more like a little lump of jelly than a 
highly organized living creature. One which I 
saw in the London Zoological Gardens was less 
than an inch in length, and no thicker than a 
lead-pencil. 
The newly born young is taken by the mother, 
in her front paws, and placed in her pouch; and 
the half-formed creature, with a mouth specially 
formed for suction, attaches itself to the nursing 
gland, and so remains for many days, or even 
weeks. Slowly it grows, until it develops hair, 
and its eyes open. At length it becomes large 
enough so that it ventures to stick its little head 
out, and view the world. By and by it climbs 
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