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ZOOBKoalas and Other Australian Animals
ZOOBKoalas and Other Australian Animals
Koalas
and Other Australian Animals
. .
Hand
^
j3aby koalas and other baby marsupials start life in
a different way from most of the other mammals on earth.
In fact, tlie mmn difference between marsupials and odier
mammals is the way in which their babies are born.
Koalas and other marsupials give birth to "unfinished"
babies, and then cany diem aiound in pouches for a time.
(The word "marsupial" means "pouched animal.") Most
other mammals are called placental mammals. They give
birth to more "finished" babies and do not have pouches.
By the time a young koala comes out
of the pouch for the first time, It is
about 8 Inches long (20 centimeters)
and covered with fur. Unlike most
other marsupials, koalas have pouches
that open toward the back.
^^';/:;^75'^Bs
Queensland Koala
Phascolarrtos cinerctis adustus
mW^
Giant Anteater
There are many kinds of marsupials Myrmecophaga tridactyh
living in Australia and on nearby islands — more than
170 different species. And one of the first things that
has to be said about them is that they are a remarka-
bly varied group. There are marsupials of many
difierent shapes, and sizes, and colors.
The reason for this is not hard to see. In general,
the way an animal looks and behaves has to do with
the kind of place it lives in and the way it gets its
food. Australia has many different kinds of places for
animals to live, fiom deserts to tropical forests and —
so there are many different kinds of animals.
All marsupials in Australia are descended from
Banded Anteater (or Numbat)
animals that came to Australia more than 50 million Myrmecobius fasciatus
years ago, probably from South America. After that (Marsupial)
Desert Shrew
Notiosorex crawfordi Both of these small
desert animals eat In-
sects. They live In
holes, sleep during
the heat of the day,
and come out at night
to find their food.
Marsupial Mouse
Antechinus macdonnellensis
(Marsupial)
Koala
Phascolarctos cinereus
(Marsupial)
Tasmanian Wolf
Thylacinus cynocephatus
(Marsupial)
Domestic Cow
The brush-tailed possum and Bos primigenius taunts '1 \ At
the raccoon look very much
alike, and have very similar
lives. Both can live in a wide
variety of different places and
eat a wide variety of foods . .
^w.
"'^I-
Banded
Hare Wallaby
Lagostrophus fasciatu
^•""v5^
Pretty-face Wallaby
Wallabia elegans
%,
The strangest mammals on earth
are found onK The\ are called
in Australia.
monotremes, and there are only two kinds —
the duck-l)illed plat\pus and the spiny anteater.
Of all the nianinials on earth, these are the only
'^>- Platypus eggs look like
ones that la\ eggs. And they are so different
small crocodile eggs. Like
fi-om marsupials and placental mammals that reptile eggs, they have a
Platypus Egg rubbery shell that bends
have placed them
scientists in a group all by when you touch It. There
themsehes. are usually two eggs, and
these are stuck together
When the plat\pus was first discovered, it to keep them from rolling
confiised eveiybody. Scientists didn't around In the nest.
know what
to make of an animal that had a bill and
webbed feet like a duck, and a flat tail like
a beaver. What could you say about an
animal with thick fur like a mammal
that also lays eggs like a reptile?
Plat\puses are small-about 20
inches long (50 centimeters) when
fullygrown. They live in ponds
and streams in eastern Australia
and ma\' live 10 vears.
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