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Ronald Lowell age 16, of West Warwick, Rhode Island, for his question:

HOW MANY DIFFERENT MARSUPIALS ARE THERE?

Largest of all the animals called marsupials is the kangaroo.      He can measure a hefty seven feet tall. The smallest in the marsupial group is the so-called marsupial mouse that is no bigger than a house mouse. In between are a wide variety of animals varying in size between the two extremes.

A marsupial is an animal who is raised in a pouch in his mother's body when he is very young. And there are more than 250 different species of marsupials in a wide variety of locations on earth.

Most of the marsupials are found in Australia, New Guinea or in the islands of Australasia. Falling into types from this part of the world are the kangaroo, koala, bandicoot, cuscus, dasyure, Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian wolf and the wombat.

The common opossum is also a marsupial. There are many types of this animal found in South and Central America. The Virginia opossum is the only type of marsupial that lives in the United States.

At birth, a marsupial is very tiny. A newly born opossum, as an example, is no larger than a kidney bean when he is born. He's not developed enough when he is born to live outside his mother's pouch, and immediately has the ability to crawl on his own from the birth canal along the mother's fur and into her pouch. Once inside the pouch, the baby will attach himself to a nipple of the mammary gland. In order to get enough food to stay alive, the baby remains attached to the nipple continuously until he is developed enough to leave the pouch. If there are more babies than there are nipples, unfortunately the extra offspring die.

Young marsupials may stay in their moth_er's pouch for several months. Even when they are old enough- to leave, they stick close to mother--and jump back into the pouch when frightened.

Marsupials live on insects although some eat only meat while others eat only plants.

A not-too-common marsupial is the bandicoot. He's found in Australia and New Guinea and is about the size of a rabbit. Mother's pouch opens at the bottom, instead of the top as with most other marsupials. They have long, narrow, pointed heads and tails that are much like those of rats. Their second and third toes, strangely enough, are grown together.

There has been a decrease in the number of marsupials during the 1900s. In Australia, the government has now limited the exporting of kangaroo hides as one way to cut d-own on the number that hunters kill.

The opossum, on the other hand, continues to increase in population. They seem to have a very high rate of reproduction and they'll also get by with eating almost any kind of food.

 

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