Marsupials

The koala is well known as an Australian animal which eats gum leaves (not just gum tips), but a lesser known fact is that the greater glider and the ringtail possum are also capable of existing solely on gum leaves.

Wombats have also been known to eat gum leaves, but they are not the wombat's preferred diet. Wallabies and kangaroos will eat upung shoots and tips of eucalyptus saplings.

Dasyurus maculatus is the tiger or spotted tailed quoll's scientific name. The full categorization is Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Dasyuromorphia, Family: Dasyuridae, Genus: Dasyurus, and Species: maculatus. It was first described in 1792 by Robert Kerr, a Scottish writer and naturalist, who placed it in the genus Didelphis, which includes several species of American opossum. Later, the spotted tailed quoll or the tiger quoll was placed in the family Dasyurus, which includes most carnivorous marsupial mammals including 6 other quolls. The species name, maculatus, indicates that this species is spotted. Some characteristics used to classify them are that they are warm blooded, have lungs, fertilization is internal and the embryo also develops internally, and they have four limbs, and four heart chambers.

The spotted tailed quoll comes from Australia and used to live in southern Queensland through coastal New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania. It is now an endangered species and spotted tailed quolls mostly live in national parks and other confined areas. They are nocturnal and prefer a forest habitat, living in borrows, hollow logs, holes in trees, and rock crevices. Spotted tailed quolls are carnivorous and eat rats, birds, frogs, possums, reptiles, insects, rabbits, mice etc. They kill their prey by biting it behind the head or knocking them off a tree branch and killing them in mid air or right after they hit the ground. Sometimes they eat dead animals and are often seen scavenging at picnic spots, camping grounds, and farms where they attack chickens. If necessary they are known to kill small wallabies and large birds. Tiger quolls are the top predators and scavengers in the mainland Australia. There are six kinds of quolls and spotted tailed or tiger quolls are the largest and most dangerous. Spotted tailed quolls breed in May- June. When they are born they are ¼ of an inch, then when they are four weeks they are 1 ½ inches. At eighteen weeks they become independent.

Some adaptations that help the spotted tailed quoll are: powerful jaws which are strong enough to crush bones of their prey. They are able to eat half their own body weight in one meal in so they don't need to hunt as frequently and in case of a food shortage. They have irregular white spots on their back and long tail; their spotted fur enables them to camouflage in trees or on the ground at night, because it looks like spots of moon light on the ground or on bark. Being a marsupial, the young are raised in a pouch for protection. The quoll's leg structure and strong, sharp claws enable it to be a strong and agile climber. Quolls have up to 16 young that may be born at one time - but the average number is 5. Larger numbers help ensure numbers remain reasonably populated. Spotted tailed quolls feet have transversely striated pads, which is an adaptation for grip because part of their life is spent in the trees. The quoll's tail is 20 - 35 cm long. Although their tails are long, quoll tails are not prehensile tails, the tails are used for balance only. The quoll is quite agile and tree climbing is a way for them to escape predators like eagles. Spotted tailed quolls have 5 toes on the back feet but are the only quolls that have a very small, clawless first toe and 4 large toes with long claws on its front feet.

Spotted tailed quolls are an endangered species because people are cutting down the forests where they live. As the mainland's largest carnivorous marsupial, the tiger quoll has no natural predators, but introduced species such as foxes and wild dogs do pose a threat. Their natural predators are mostly wedge-tailed eagles, pythons, large forest owls and goannas. Dingoes' territory rarely overlaps quoll territory but when it does the dingo will prey on the quolls. It has little human interaction, and it is of little value to humans.

Foxes eat numbats. They are one of the greatest threats to numbats, which are small, defenceless creatures.

Marsupials are found in almost all climates. They can be found in desert areas, temperate zones, even alpine areas.

Unlike most other Australian native animals, the Broad faced potoroo does not appear to have become extinct as a result of European settlement. Studies indicate the population of this small marsupial had declined before land-clearing became common, and before the red fox was introduced. Neither of these events helped its cause, of course.

Feral cats were believed to have come as a result of Macassan and Dutch ships visiting the Australian coast long before Britain colonised the continent, so most theories suggest that feral cats were the direct cause of the extinction of the Broad faced potoroo.

the two groups mixed together with minimal competition due to their niche differences

The biggest impact on numbats by humans has been the introduction of predatory species such as foxes, feral cats and wild dogs. These animals have had a serious effect on the numbats' population, as numbats are small and quite defenceless.

Habitat loss has resulted from humans clearing land for agricultural purposes.

Marsupials have a marsupium, which is either a pouch or a flap of skin which acts as a protective pouch.

Baby marsupials, known as joeys, are extremely undeveloped when they are born. They are little more than the size of a bean, and completely blind and hairless. They must continue their development in the mother's pouch for several more months, whilst attached to a teat permanently during much of that time.

The word "quoll" is already taken from an aboriginal word. It was derived from the word "ja-quoll" which was used by the Aborigines of far North Queensland, and recorded by James Cook and his botanist Joseph Banks in 1770.

Sugar Gliders are Marsupials and are a member of the Petauridae family; there are 11 species that belong to this family. The members of this family consist of possums which are the closest relatives of the sugar gliders except for perhaps other types of gliders.

The most immediate relatives are the five other gliders, also native to Australia. These include the Lesser glider, Greater glider, Squirrel glider, Mahogany glider (endangered) and Feathertail glider.

That means that the Sugar Glider sleeps during the day and hunts for food at night. (The opposite of humans)

Rottnest Island, off the coast of Western Australia, is known for the quokka, a small wallaby-like marsupial.

A bandicoot is a small marsupial of Australia, with a body length ranging from 30cm to 43 cm, depending on the species. It has longer hind legs than forelegs, with its hind legs resembling those of a kangaroo. It has a long snout and large ears. The bandicoot's fur is grey-brown with a speckled or sometimes barred appearance, whilst underneath its fur is paler, to a creamy-white. The female bandicoot has a backward-facing pouch to protect the young when she digs.

The seven species of pademelon are:

Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii)

Brown's Pademelon (Thylogale browni)

Dusky Pademelon (Thylogale brunii)

Calaby's Pademelon (Thylogale calabyi)

Mountain Pademelon (Thylogale lanatus)

Red-legged Pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica)

Red-necked Pademelon (Thylogale thetis)

The marsupial lion cannot be found anywhere any longer. It became extinct many thousands of years ago,but it used to be found in Australia.

For more information about the marsupial lion, see the related links.

no they are not marsupials, and they are not related to pandas which are bears

Male sugar gliders get a little bald spot on the top of their heads! Too cute!

Bandicoots belong to the order Peramelemorphia.

Continental drift is a significant factor in why monotremes and most (not all) marsupials are found in Australia. This has resulted in isolation.

Monotremes are Australian mammals that are unique in several ways. First of all, they are the only mammals to lay eggs. Also, despite having mammary glands, they do not have teats. This caused great confusion when they were being classified, because mammary glands are one defining characteristics of mammals and the absence of teats made them difficult to locate.

a ram is a male sheep (a female is an ewe), it is a mammal

a side note:

all marsupials are mammals

Definition of marsupial: animal with pouch: a mammal, e.g. a kangaroo, wombat, opossum, or koala, having no placenta and bearing immature young that are developed in a pouch on the mother's abdomen. Order Marsupialia. So, no, eagles don't have pouches to develop their young. They have chicks which hatch out of eggs.

More mature newborn Less risk to immature foetus