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Marsupial Morphology

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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Definition

Marsupial:

Group of mammals which may have a marsupium pouch to carry their young

Morphology:

The biological category concerning size, shape, and general structure of organisms

Introduction

Marsupials are a group of mammals mainly characterized by their distinct reproduction. They have a short gestation period followed by an extensive lactation, sometimes inside a pouch, also called marsupium. Despite what the group name implies, several marsupials do not have a pouch. Another interesting characteristic is that all marsupial neonates are altricial, which means that they have an incipient state of development at birth. Young are born excessively small, blind, and without fur but with the ability to climb the mother’s inguinal region until they find a teat to attach to and complete its development.

The earliest fossil known of metatherians (mammals most closely related to marsupials than placentals, besides modern marsupials) is from the early Cretaceous of Asia...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Vertebrados, Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Gabby Neves Guilhon

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  1. Gabby Neves Guilhon
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Correspondence to Gabby Neves Guilhon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Marieke Cassia Gartner

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Guilhon, G.N. (2020). Marsupial Morphology. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1195-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1195-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Marsupial Morphology
    Published:
    21 January 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1195-3

  2. Marsupial Morphology
    Published:
    02 December 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1195-2

  3. Original

    Marsupial Morphology
    Published:
    07 June 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1195-1

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