How are marsupials different from other mammals and how are they the same?

Answer 1

A marsupial is a mammal, but it is different to a placental mammal in two main ways.

Marsupial young are born very undeveloped, after a short gestation period. Moving purely by instinct, the baby joey (the term for all marsupial young) makes its way to the mother's pouch, where the young joey latches onto a teat, remaining there to continue its growth and development.

Many marsupials have the mammary glands enclosed within a protective pouch. Although a mammal with a pouch is always a marsupial, not all marsupials have pouches, for example, the numbat of Western Australia. This is not necessarily a characteristic of marsupials.

Marsupials are a kind of mammal. All marsupials are mammals, but not all mammals are marsupials. Marsupials do not have advanced placentas, and have epipubic bones. Epipubic bones are bones which project forwards from the pelvis. In the case of marsupials, these bones support the female's pouch, but there are other mammals which are not marsupials which also have epipubic bones. The excretory and reproductive systems of placental mammals and marsupials are also different.

Apart from these characteristics, marsupials have a similar Biology to other mammals.

Answer 2

All marsupials are mammals, but all mammals are not marsupials. Marsupials are a classification within mammals. Most mammals are "placental mammals", meaning that the young develop inside the mother's body, receiving their nutrients via the placental cord. Marsupials are commonly known as "pouched mammals". They are born extremely undeveloped, little more than bean-sized embryos. They undertake an arduous journey from the birth canal to the mother's pouch where they attach themselves to a teat. The teat swells inside their mouth so they may not be accidentally jolted loose, and the remainder of their development continues there. Monotremes are another classification within mammals. These animals are egg-laying mammals, and include the echidna and platypus.

Answer 3

Marsupials are mammals and like all mammals, they are warmblooded vertebrates, which breathe using lungs (rather than gills), and are covered with skin, fur or hair. Mammals, including marsupials, suckle their young on mothers' milk.

Marsupials are mammals with pouches in which they rear their young. Marsupial young are characterised by being extremely small and undeveloped at birth. At birth, they take a long, arduous journey from the birth canal, driven purely by instinct, grabbing hold of the mother marsupial's fur which she has cleaned and made easier to traverse with saliva, to reach the pouch. Upon reaching the pouch, they latch onto a teat which swells in their mouth to prevent them from being accidentally dislodged during the mother's movements. There they stay for months, to complete their development.

Not all marsupials have pouches, e.g. the numbat has a mere flap of skin, but in animals where the pouch is absent, the young are still born undeveloped, and they cling by instinct to the underside of their mother's belly, still firmly attached to teats which swell in their mouths.

Female marsupials have two vaginas, or what are called paired lateral vaginae. These are for the purpose of transporting the sperm to the womb, but there is a midline pseudovaginal canal for actually giving birth. As well as two vaginas and two uteruses, female marsupials have two fallopian tubes and two cervixes. Most male marsupials, with the exception of the largest species, the Red Kangaroo, Eastern Grey and Western Grey Kangaroos, have a "bifurcated" or two-pronged penis to accommodate the females' two vaginas.

Answer 4

No.

Marsupials and platypuses are both mammals, but a marsupial gives birth to live young. Most (not all) marsupials are characterised by having a pouch in which the young are raised, as they are born very undeveloped.

Platypuses are monotremes, or egg-laying mammals. They do not give birth to live young. The only other monotreme is the echidna.

Answer 5

A marsupial is a mammal, but it is different to both placental mammals and monotremes.

Marsupial young are born very undeveloped, after a short gestation period. Moving purely by instinct, the baby joey (the term for all marsupial young) makes its way to the mother's pouch, where the young joey latches onto a teat, remaining there to continue its growth and development. The young of placental mammals are well developed when born, and are able to survive independently of the mother, given the right care. Marsupial joeys cannot. Regarding monotremes, they are completely different mammals again, not bearing live young like marsupials and placental mammals, but laying eggs for reproduction.

Many marsupials have the mammary glands enclosed within a protective pouch. Although a mammal with a pouch is always a marsupial (except for the monotreme, the echidna, which develops a rudimentary pouch during breeding season), not all marsupials have pouches: for example, the numbat of Western Australia. This is not necessarily a characteristic of marsupials.

Marsupials do not have advanced placentas, and have epipubic bones. Epipubic bones are bones which project forwards from the pelvis. In the case of marsupials, these bones support the female's pouch, but there are other mammals which are not marsupials which also have epipubic bones. Placental mammals are so named because they have placentas, which transfer oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. Marsupials also have placentas, but they are only choriovitelline and get most of the nutrients from the egg sac.

The excretory and reproductive systems of placental mammals and marsupials are also different. Female marsupials have two vaginas, or what are called paired lateral vaginae. These are for the purpose of transporting the sperm to the womb, but there is a midline pseudovaginal canal for actually giving birth. As well as two vaginas and two uteruses, female marsupials have two fallopian tubes and two cervixes. Most male marsupials, with the exception of the largest species, the Red Kangaroo, Eastern Grey and Western Grey Kangaroos, have a "bifurcated" or two-pronged penis to accommodate the females' two vaginas. Marsupials have cloacas, though they also have separate genital openings. Placental mammals have separate openings for the reproductive, urinary, and digestive systems.

Apart from these characteristics, marsupials have a similar Biology to other mammals. Marsupials, like all mammals, are warm-blooded vertebrates which breathe through lungs. They have a covering of fur or hair over their skin. They have a four-chambered heart.

Answer 6

Actually, marsupials are classified as mammals. Both have teats (mammary glands), but the teats of a marsupial are usually enclosed in a pouch that is also used to carry the young.