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The pouch is a distinguishing feature of female marsupials and monotremes, [1] [2] [3] and rarely in males as well, such as in the yapok [4] and the extinct thylacine. The name marsupial is derived from the Latin marsupium , meaning "pouch".
The name thylacine is derived from thýlakos meaning "pouch" and ine meaning "pertaining to", and refers to the marsupial pouch. Both sexes had a pouch. The females used theirs for rearing young, and the males used theirs as a protective sheath, covering the external reproductive organs. The animal had a stiff tail and could open its jaws to an ...
Marsupials give birth at a very early stage of development; after birth, newborn marsupials crawl up the bodies of their mothers and attach themselves to a teat, which is located on the underside of the mother, either inside a pouch called the marsupium, or open to the environment. Mothers often lick their fur to leave a trail of scent for the ...
The latter subclass is divided into two infraclasses: pouched mammals (metatherians or marsupials), and placental mammals (eutherians, for which see List of placental mammals). Classification updated from Wilson and Reeder's "Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference" using the "Planet Mammifères" website.
Marsupium is the Latin word for a (brood) pouch in several animal groups: Pouch (marsupial), in marsupials; Brood pouch (Peracarida), in peracarid crustaceans; Brood pouch (Syngnathidae), in syngnathids such as sea horses
All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a pouch . Well-known marsupials include kangaroos , wallabies , koalas , opossums , wombats , Tasmanian devils , and the extinct thylacine .
Being a marsupial and at the same time an aquatic animal, the water opossum has evolved a way to protect its young while swimming. A strong ring of muscle makes the pouch (which opens to the rear) watertight, so the young remain dry, even when the mother is totally immersed in water. [6]
Antechinus do not have a complete pouch, as in other marsupials, but simply a flap of skin covering the teats. [1] The number of teats in Antechinus species varies between different populations of the same species, [ 2 ] [ 18 ] and can be anywhere from six to 13. [ 18 ]