[Year]
[Document title]
[DOCUMENT SUBTITLE]
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Abstract
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rebum nonumy delicata, ex dolore accusam suavitate has, usu ei adhuc albucius sadipscing.
Id equidem patrioque duo, ei eam simul oblique accusam, id nobis mucius elaboraret pro. Ei
pri inani blandit. Sed te etiam expetendis necessitatibus, utamur consulatu est ea, an usu
quem unum eirmod.
At detraxit lobortis indoctum cum. Atqui definiebas per ne, usu veri ignota ad, ne his
constituto consequuntur. Te partem causae omnium mel, eam id facilisi theophrastus.
Ullum adipisci mediocrem te pro, has inani clita debitis no. Pericula interesset reformidans
ei sed, ne est brute paulo aperiam.
Nam unum summo eu, sea debet appetere assueverit ne, accusata torquatos incorrupte no
vim. No alii paulo salutandi mei, nec sonet voluptatum consectetuer et, id quo blandit
delectus inimicus. Mel modus impedit maluisset ad, nec in stet malorum. Eu has dicit
numquam vituperata, te has homero percipit lobortis. Vis malis fastidii ad, democritum
scriptorem eu eos. Mea decore voluptua vivendum ei, tota tacimates ocurreret eu eum.
i
Acknowledgements
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, graecis alienum constituto ei sed, ei sint cibo soleat ius. Mei an
rebum nonumy delicata, ex dolore accusam suavitate has, usu ei adhuc albucius sadipscing.
Id equidem patrioque duo, ei eam simul oblique accusam, id nobis mucius elaboraret pro. Ei
pri inani blandit. Sed te etiam expetendis necessitatibus, utamur consulatu est ea, an usu
quem unum eirmod.
At detraxit lobortis indoctum cum. Atqui definiebas per ne, usu veri ignota ad, ne his
constituto consequuntur. Te partem causae omnium mel, eam id facilisi theophrastus.
Ullum adipisci mediocrem te pro, has inani clita debitis no. Pericula interesset reformidans
ei sed, ne est brute paulo aperiam.
ii
Table of Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................i
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................ii
Table of Contents......................................................................................................................iii
List of Figures.............................................................................................................................iv
List of Tables...............................................................................................................................v
Chapter 1 Introduction.........................................................................................................1
1.1 Overview......................................................................................................................1
1.2 Biological Classification...............................................................................................1
1.3 Evolution......................................................................................................................2
1.3.1 The Metatherians.................................................................................................2
1.3.2 Earliest Evidence of Metatherians.......................................................................2
1.3.3 Later Evolution of Matatherians..........................................................................3
1.4 Characteristics.............................................................................................................4
1.4.1 Skull and teeth.....................................................................................................4
1.4.2 Torso.....................................................................................................................5
1.4.3 General and convergences...................................................................................5
Biblography................................................................................................................................7
iii
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Kola Climbung Treee.................................................................................................1
Figure 1.2. Phylogenetic tree of marsupials derived from retroposon data.............................4
Figure 1.3. A Sugar Glider...........................................................................................................5
Figure 1.4. A Flying Squirrel.......................................................................................................6
iv
List of Tables
Table 1.1. Scientific classification of Marsupials........................................................................2
v
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Overview
The marsupials are a subclass within the Mammals (Mammalia). They differ from the higher
mammals or placentals (Eutheria), among other things, in which the young are born at a
very early, embryo-like stage and then often grow up in a mother's pouch. Today there are
about 320 marsupial species in Australia and America, about 6 percent of all extant mammal
species.
1.2 Biological Classification
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals living primarily in Australasia and the New World.
A distinctive characteristic, common to most species, is that the young are carried in a
pouch. Well-known marsupials include kangaroos, wallabies, koala, possums, opossums,
wombats and the Tasmanian devil. Less well-known species of marsupials include the
numbat, bandicoots, bettongs, the bilby, quolls, and the quokka.
Marsupials represent the clade originating with the last common ancestor of extant
metatherians. Like other mammals in the Metatheria, they are characterized by giving birth
to relatively undeveloped young, often residing in a pouch with the mother for a certain
time after birth. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and
nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America,
but with 13 in Central America, and one in North America north of Mexico. The scientific
classification of marsupials is shown in Table 1 .1.
Figure 1.1 Kola Climbung Treee
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Table 1.1. Scientific classification of Marsupials
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Clade Metatheria
Infraclass Marsupialia
1.3 Evolution
The relationships between the three extant divisions of mammals (monotremes, marsupials,
and placental mammals) was long a matter of debate among taxonomists. Most
morphological evidence comparing traits such as number and arrangement of teeth and
structure of the reproductive and waste elimination systems favors a closer evolutionary
relationship between marsupials and placental mammals than either with the monotremes,
as does most genetic and molecular evidence.
1.3.1 The Metatherians
The ancestors of marsupials, part of a larger group called metatherians, probably split from
those of placental mammals (eutherians) during the mid-Jurassic period, though no fossil
evidence of metatherians themselves are known from this time. Fossil metatherians are
distinguished from eutherians by the form of their teeth; metatherians possess four pairs of
molar teeth in each jaw, whereas eutherian mammals (including true placentals) never have
more than three pairs. Using this criterion, the earliest known metatherian is Sinodelphys
szalayi, which lived in China around 125 million years ago (mya). This makes it a
contemporary to some early eutherian species which have been found in the same area.
1.3.2 Earliest Evidence of Metatherians
The oldest metatherian fossils are found in present-day China. About 100 mya, the
supercontinent Pangaea was in the process of splitting into the northern continent Laurasia
and the southern continent Gondwana, with what would become China and Australia
already separated by the Tethys Ocean. From there, metatherians spread westward into
modern North America (still attached to Eurasia), where the earliest true marsupials are
found. Marsupials are difficult to distinguish from fossils, as they are characterized by
aspects of the reproductive system which do not normally fossilize (including pouches) and
by subtle changes in the bone and tooth structure that show a metatherian is part of the
marsupial crown group (the most exclusive group that contains all living marsupials). The
earliest definite marsupial fossil belongs to the species Peradectes minor, from the
Paleocene of Montana, dated to about 65 million years ago. From their point of origin in
Laurasia, marsupials spread to South America, which was connected to North America until
2
around 65 mya. Laurasian marsupials eventually died off, possibly due to competition from
placental mammals for their ecological niches.
1.3.3 Later Evolution of Matatherians
In South America, the opossums evolved and developed a strong presence, and the
Paleogene also saw the evolution of shrew opossums (Paucituberculata) alongside non-
marsupial metatherian predators such as the borhyaenids and the saber-toothed
Thylacosmilus. South American niches for mammalian carnivores were dominated by these
marsupial and sparassodont metatherians. While placental predators were absent, the
metatherians did have to contend with avian (terror bird) and terrestrial crocodylomorph
competition. South America and Antarctica remained connected until 35 mya, as shown by
the unique fossils found there. North and South America were disconnected until about
three million years ago, when the Isthmus of Panama formed. This led to the Great
American Interchange. Competition from placental mammals from the north drove
sparassodonts to extinction, while didelphimorphs (opossums) invaded Central America,
with the Virginia opossum reaching as far north as Canada.
Marsupials reached Australia via Antarctica about 50 mya, shortly after Australia had split
off. This suggests a single dispersion event of just one species, most likely a relative to South
America's monito del monte (a microbiothere, the only New World australidelphian). This
progenitor may have rafted across the widening, but still narrow, gap between Australia and
Antarctica. In Australia, they radiated into the wide variety seen today. Modern marsupials
appear to have reached the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi relatively recently via Australia.
A 2010 analysis of retrotransposon insertion sites in the nuclear DNA of a variety of
marsupials has confirmed all living marsupials have South American ancestors. The
branching sequence of marsupial orders indicated by the study puts Didelphimorphia in the
most basal position, followed by Paucituberculata, then Microbiotheria, and ending with the
radiation of Australian marsupials. This indicates that Australidelphia arose in South
America, and reached Australia after Microbiotheria split off as shown in Figure 1 .2.
3
Figure 1.2. Phylogenetic tree of marsupials derived from retroposon data
In Australia, terrestrial placental mammals disappeared early in the Cenozoic (their most
recent known fossils being 55 million-year-old teeth resembling those of condylarths) for
reasons that are not clear, allowing marsupials to dominate the Australian ecosystem.
Extant native Australian terrestrial placental mammals (such as hopping mice) are relatively
recent immigrants, arriving via island hopping from Southeast Asia.
Genetic analysis suggests a divergence date between the marsupials and the placentals at
160 million years ago. The ancestral number of chromosomes has been estimated to be 2n =
14.
1.4 Characteristics
Marsupials are characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. They lack a
complex placenta to protect the embryo from its mother's immune system. They have a
front pouch containing multiple nipples for protection and sustenance of the young.
Some common structural features can be found among marsupials. Ossified patellae are
absent in most modern marsupials, though a small number of exceptions are reported.
Epipubic bones are present. Marsupials (and also monotremes) also lack a gross
communication (corpus callosum) between the right and left brain hemispheres.
1.4.1 Skull and teeth
The skull has peculiarities in comparison to higher mammals. In general, the skull is
relatively small and tight. Holes (foramen lacrimale) are located in the front of the orbit. The
cheekbone is enlarged and extends further to the rear. The angular extension (processus
4
angularis) of the lower jaw is bent toward the center. Another feature is the hard palate
which, in contrast to the higher mammals' foramina, always have more openings. The teeth
differ from that of placental mammals, so that all taxa except wombats have a different
number of incisors in the upper and lower jaws. The early marsupials had a dental formula
from 5 / 4-1 / 1-3 / 3-4 / 4, that is, per pine half; they have five maxilla or four mandibular
incisors, one canine, three premolars and four molars, for a total of 50 teeth. Some taxa,
such as the opossum, have the original number of teeth. In other groups the number of
teeth is reduced. Marsupials in many cases have 40 to 50 teeth, significantly more than
placental mammals. The upper jaw has a high number of incisors, up to ten, and they have
more molars than premolars. The second set of teeth grows in only at the 3rd premolar: all
remaining teeth are already created as permanent teeth.
1.4.2 Torso
Few general characteristics describe their skeleton. In addition to details in the construction
of the ankle, bones (Ossa epubica) are characteristic, two from the pubic bone of the pelvis,
which is a forwardly projecting bone. Since these are present in males and pouchless
species, it is believed that they originally had nothing to do with reproduction, but served in
the muscular approach to the movement of the hind limbs. The egg-laying platypus have
marsupial bones. This could be explained by an original feature of mammals. Marsupial
reproductive organs differ from the higher mammals. For them, the reproductive tract is
doubled. The females have two uteri and two vaginas, and before birth, a birth canal forms
between them, the median vagina. The males have a split or double penis lying in front of
the scrotum.
A pouch is present in some but not all species. Some marsupials have a permanent bag,
whereas in others the pouch develops during gestation, as with the shrew opossum, where
the young are hidden only by skin folds or in the fur of the mother. The arrangement of the
pouch is variable to allow the offspring to receive maximum protection. Locomotive
kangaroos have a pouch opening at the front, while many others that walk or climb on all
fours have the opening in the back. Usually, only females have a pouch, but the male water
opossum has a pouch that is used to accommodate his genitalia while swimming or running.
1.4.3 General and convergences
The sugar glider, a marsupial (Figure 1 .3), and flying squirrel (Figure 1 .4), a rodent, are
examples of convergent evolution.
Figure 1.3. A Sugar Glider
5
Figure 1.4. A Flying Squirrel
Marsupials have adapted to many habitats, reflected in the wide variety in their build. The
largest living marsupial, the red kangaroo, grows up to 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in height and 90
kilograms (200 lb) in weight, but extinct genera, such as Diprotodon, were significantly
larger and heavier. The smallest members of this group are the marsupial mice, which often
reach only 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in body length.
Some species resemble higher mammals and are examples of convergent evolution. The
extinct Thylacine strongly resembled the placental wolf, hence its nickname "Tasmanian
wolf". Flying and the associated ability to glide occurred both with marsupials (as with sugar
gliders) and some higher mammals (as with flying squirrels), which developed
independently. Other groups such as the kangaroo, however, do not have placental
counterparts.
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Biblography
