Marsupials are mammals, and although they give birth to live offspring, the joey, or baby, is carried in the uterus for a short period of time. It then develops for weeks or even months inside the abdominal pouch called the marsupium. Though most marsupials hail from Australia, there are a smattering of them found throughout the Americas. Let’s take a look at just five adorable marsupials!
1. Kangaroo
Native to Australia, the famous kangaroo is the most common marsupial as well as the largest. The male can grow to over 5 feet tall, weigh more than 200 pounds and travel faster than 40 miles per hour. The female kangaroo, often depicted carrying her joey, is a beloved character in cartoons, movies, and comics.
2. Australian Sugar Glider
The Australian sugar glider is the smallest of all marsupials, measuring only 5 to 6 inches in length. They glide between tree branches at night using a thin membrane between their front and back legs, like a squirrel. They love sweets, hence the name, and they are extremely friendly, trainable, and adaptable. Sugar gliders like to be cuddled and carried in pockets, leading to their popularity as a household pet.
3. Koala
The cute koala is a small Australian marsupial often erroneously called a bear. Koalas are known for carrying their joeys on the mother’s back and for consuming large amounts of eucalyptus tree leaves, their favorite food. They spend most of their time eating and sleeping high up in eucalyptus trees and store copious amounts of leaves in their cheeks to eat later. The Koala’s joey pouch is unique because it faces backwards, especially advantagegeous for tree dwellers.
4. Wombat
The chubby and comical wombat grows to approximately 40 inches in length and has very short legs, lending to its characteristic and adorable waddle. A highly adaptable animal, wombats dig, burrow, and tunnel throughout most of Australia and Tasmania, coming out at night to eat grass and bark. Like the koala, the pouch faces backwards and protects the young during digging.
5. Opossum
The only marsupial found in the United States, opossums are about the size of a house cat. They may not be the most adorable, however the expression “playing possum” endears them in children’s games worldwide. This involuntary and defensive response helps ward off predators by looking and smelling like a dead or sick animal.
Related articles: Nocturnal Creatures of North America, 5 Animals with Misleading Names
Featured Image from Ashish Upadhyay/Unsplash
