Marsupials Animals

Plainly speaking, Marsupials live in the forests, plains area or deserts. These mammals can be found in Americas, Australia, New Guinea and some neighboring islands. Animals like Kangaroos, Koalas , Wallabies, wombats, Bandicoots, Bilbies , Tasmanian Devil and Opossums. Among the marsupials, Kangaroos are the largest animals- male red kangaroo can reach 6; high. Shrew-like ningauis are the smallest, some of the latter weight less than 1/10 ounce (2.8 grams).

Further information, there about 260 different species of marsupials. There can be classified into one of six groups. Two marsupial groups are found only in Americas: ((1) didelphids that include opossums and (2) caenolestids, the rat opossums of western South America. The other four marsupial groups are found in Australasia. The (3) macropods are kangaroos and wallabies. (4) Phalangers are called possums but there should not be confused with americas' Opossums. (they are totally 2 different group).
(5) dasyurids are small, insect-eating mammals and also includes a few carnivore marsupials. The (6) peramedlids are bandicoots. That still leaves koalas and wombats, two other species.

North america marsupial can be found" at north of the rio grande. Most of these female carries and nurses they young in her marsupium until are 2 or 3 months. They often carried they babies at the back for another 1 or 2 months wherever they're away from the den.

They are solitary nocturnal and moving quite slowly. The size like a domesticate cat. The teeth are sharp but they are actually gentle .

These shrew and small mammals are mostly confined in Andes Mountains of South America. They live in inaccessible forest and grassland regions of the High Andes.

Shrew opossums (also known as rat opossums or caenolestids) are about the size of a small rat (9-14 cm long), with thin limbs, a long, pointed snout and a slender, hairy tail. They are largely carnivorous, being active hunters of insects, earthworms and small vertebrates. They have small eyes and poor sight, and hunt in the early evening and at night, using their hearing and long, sensitive whiskers to locate prey. They seem to spend much of their lives in underground burrows and on surface runways. (source Wikipedia)

We all know or heard about Kangaroos. It is pretty common name. Do you know they are different species of kangaroos. Kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae, (Macropod) meaning large foots.

1. Red Kangaroo



2. Antilopine Kangaroo



3. Eastern Kangaroo



4. Western Kangaroo

other small species of kangaroos like:

Wallabies, Tree Kangaroos, Wallaroos, pademelons and Quokka.

These animals can be found mostly in Australia and also in Papua New Guinea.

They are cute small bear like that live on the tree. Herbivorous marsupial which averages about 9kg (20lb) in weight. The colors of these animal are ash grey with tinge brown .

They normal habitats can be found from coastal islands and tall eucalypt forests to low woodlands inland.

Wallabies mostly distributed widely in Australia particularly in remote area, heavily timbered or rugged areas

They are different species of Wallabies, namely:-

Agile Wallaby, Macropus agilis

Allied Rock-wallaby, Petrogale assimilis

Banded Hare-wallaby, Lagostrophus fasciatus

Black Dorcopsis, Dorcopsis atrata

Black-flanked Rock-wallaby, Petrogale lateralis

Black-striped Wallaby, Macropus dorsalis

Bridled Nail-tail Wallaby, Onychogalea fraenata

Brown Dorcopsis, Dorcopsis muelleri

Brown's Pademelon, Thylogale browni

Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby, Petrogale penicillata

Calaby's Pademelon, Thylogale calabyi

Cape York Rock-wallaby, Petrogale coenensis

Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby, Onychogalea lunata (extinct)

Dusky Pademelon, Thylogale brunii

Eastern Hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes leporides

Godman's Rock-wallaby, Petrogale godmani

Gray Dorcopsis, Dorcopsis luctuosa

Herbert's Rock-wallaby, Petrogale herberti

Lake Mackay Hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes asomatus

Macleay's Dorcopsis, Dorcopsulus macleayi

Mareeba Rock-wallaby, Petrogale mareeba

Monjon, Petrogale burbidgei

Mt. Claro Rock-wallaby, Petrogale sharmani

Mountain Pademelon, Thylogale lanatus
Nabarlek, Petrogale concinna

Northern Nail-tail Wallaby, Onychogalea unguifera

Parma Wallaby: Macropus parma (rediscovered, thought extinct for 100 years)

Pretty-faced Wallaby: Macropus parryi

Proserpine Rock-wallaby, Petrogale persephone

Purple-necked Rock-wallaby, Petrogale purpureicollis
Red-legged Pademelon, Thylogale stigmatica

Red-necked Pademelon, Thylogale thetis

Red-necked Wallaby: Macropus rufogriseus

Rothschild's Rock-wallaby, Petrogale rothschildi

Rufous Hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes hirsutus

Short-eared Rock-wallaby, Petrogale brachyotis

Small Dorcopsis, Dorcopsulus vanheurni

Spectacled Hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes conspicillatus

Swamp Wallaby or Black Wallaby, Wallabia bicolor

Tammar Wallaby, Macropus eugenii

Tasmanian Pademelon, Thylogale billardierii

Toolache Wallaby, Macropus greyii (extinct)

Unadorned Rock-wallaby, Petrogale inornata

Western Brush Wallaby, Macropus irma

White-striped Dorcopsis, Dorcopsis hageni

Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby, Petrogale xanthopus
(Excerpt from Wikipedia)

Wombat live in burrows in open grasslands. They used claws to dig burrows and which can become extensive tunnel-and-chamber complexes. These wombat lives solitary, nocturnal and inhabit their own burrows. But other species, they are more social and live together in larger burrows groups called colonies. As any other marsupials, wombat give birth to a tiny undeveloped baby that crawls into pouches on their mothers' bellies. Normal wombat baby will remains in his mother's pouch for about five months before emerging to see the world for the very first time.

Facts About This Mammal

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Size: 28 to 47 in (71 to 119 cm)

Weight: 32 to 80 lbs (15 to 36 kg)

Group name: Mob or Colony

Area that can be found: forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of south-eastern Australia and Tasmania

A common Spotted Couscous can be found and lives between Cape York Peninsular Region Australia and Papua New

Name Couscous or Cuscus derives its name from the native Papua New Guinea word meaning 'Animal' and "Phalanger" means web-footed.

Habitat: Arboreal. Climates Area: Tropical Rain Forest.

Couscous is a lemurlike possum with strong long tail. The ears are small with beaded eyes . covered with thick fur and woolly with the colors ranging from gray, rust color, often with cream or white blotches along the sides. Indeed, sometimes the entire animal is nearly white. Head and body length is about 25", and its weight is about 13 lb.



Behavior: Largest possums in the world. It is a slow moving and sluggish animal. A bit larger than house cat. Habit is very obvious-Arboreal. By day, this animal will rest s in a tree, curled up among dense foliage or in a hollow. At night it will foraging through a tree looking for food like leaves or fruits. Sometimes, it will attack and devour small bird or reptile.

It seems Marsupial animal not only live in Australia, part of Papua New Guinea or certain part of Northern America, they actually can also be found in Asian continent especially in the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi. Bear Cuscus. This unusual marsupial has many characteristics of a possum, but is closer in size to a tree kangaroo. It has round, yellow-rimmed eyes, a box-like snout, long limbs and large feet. It's more like 'Marsupial Monkey'. It lives mostly on canopy tree share together with other primates like 'Tarsiers' ,'Macaque' and squirrel.

The island of Sulawesi is home to two species of cuscus: the Bear Cuscus (Phalanger ursinus5) and the Dwarf Cuscus (Phalanger sangirensis6). They represent the largest and smallest of the cuscuses, with bodies ranging from 30 to 65 cm (12 to 25 in) and tails from 25 to 60 cm (10 to 24 in).

Most marsupials are nocturnal meaning they're active at night preying for food but the Sulawesi Bear Cuscus the opposite way. They are more active at day than their distant cousins. They are mostly spend their time in the trees, eats leaves and occasionally fruit, and is often found in pairs. Little is known about these animal since they are elusive and not easy to find.

Bandicoots are small marsupials The sizes of these animal in length are from about 6 to 22 in (15 to 56cm) and weighs under 2 lb (.9kg) depending on the species. Coarse furs with colors ranging from orange, greyish or brownish with soft fur underneath. Other species the fur is striped. The head is long and narrow, with a long snout, and they have sharp teeth.

These animals no matter what species, they are nocturnal and rests during the day by keeping themselves up warm in the nest (hollow long or crevice).

Mostly they eat insects, worm, plant but also eat lizards and small mammals such as mice. They are solitary and will only come together during mating season.

There are two main types - the long-nosed and short-nosed. There are also a few rare species such as the rabbit-eared bandicoots. Bandicoots are one of the few native mammals to have remained abundant close to the major cities of Australia. In suburban Sydney it is the long-nosed species that can be seen.

Long-nosed Bandicoot is the most common and is found from rainforest to wet and dry woodland along the eastern coast as far north as Cairns. They are a slender, medium-sized marsupial. It has a long pointed snout and pointed ears. Its fur is coarse and grey-brown with some white on its belly and limbs. Sometimes long-nosed bandicoots shelter in dense undergrowth or in drainpipes or other man-made objects.

"Long Nosed Bandicoot"

The long-nosed bandicoot breeds throughout the year and the female gives birth to an average of two or three young.

Short-nosed Bandicoot, the most widely distributed, more stoutly built and have shorter and more rounded ears and coarser hair than the long-nosed species. They are now almost extinct along the New South Wales coast. They still exist along the southern coast, up the Queensland coast to Cape York Peninsula, and in Tasmania.


"Short Nosed Bandicoot"

Bilby, or Rabbit-eared Bandicoot, so named because of their long rabbit-like ears and their habit of building and living in long burrows. They are the only bandicoots that burrow, going down as much as 5 feet or more, and are most active at night. They use their burrows for shelter during the day.


"Bilby"

They eat small mammals, insects and lizards. fungi, bulbs, and some fruit.

Unlike other bandicoots, which have short bristly hair and short rat-like tails, bilbies have soft fur and longer and stouter tails with black hair at the base and a white crested tip.

The Bilby is an endangered species.

Platypus can be found only in Australia and no other parts of the world you can find it.

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. It is the sole living representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of related species have been found in the fossil record.

The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first encountered it, with some considering it an elaborate fraud. It is one of the few venomous mammals, the male platypus having a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans. The unique features of the platypus make it an important subject in the study of evolutionary biology and a recognisable and iconic symbol of Australia; it has appeared as a mascot at national events and is featured on the reverse of the Australian 20 cent coin. The platypus is the animal emblem of the state of New South Wales.[3]

Until the early 20th century, it was hunted for its fur, but it is now protected throughout its range. Although captive breeding programmes have had only limited success and the platypus is vulnerable to the effects of pollution, it is not under any immediate threat.

Courtesy of Wikipedia