Marsupials also give birth to small, blind babies. But marsupial babies don't live in nests. Marsupial mums have a special pouch or pocket for their young to live in.

When marsupial babies are born, they crawl onto their mother's stomach and slip inside the pouch. As their mum's nipples are inside too, the baby doesn't need to go outside to drink its milk.

The first marsupials appeared about 125 million years ago. At this time South America, Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica were all squeezed into one continent called Gondwana.

After Gondwana broke apart, marsupials were left in Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania and the Americas. Living marsupials include kangaroos, koalas and opossums.

True or false?

1. Marsupials are mammals.

2. Marsupials have pouches.

3. Most marsupials live in India.

The Virginia opossum

Find words that mean:

ordinary, under the earth, hard to please

Virginia opossums live in South, Central and North America. Because they live in such a large area, they are also called common opossums. They are the size of a cat and have long tails.

These marsupials love to live near streams in forests. But when trees are chopped down, they can also survive in barns and fields.

By day Virginia opossums sleep in nests made from leaves and grass. Their nests are sometimes on the ground, but many dig a hole and sleep underground. At night they wake up and look for food.

They eat plants, worms, frogs, mice and other small creatures. If they come across a big dead animal like a bear or a dog, they will eat that, too. Virginia opossums are not fussy eaters.The

Tasmanian devil

Decide between of and off:

Tasmanian devils look like small bears. They are about 80cm long, have black and white shaggy coats, and a bushy tail. They live in Tasmania, a big island of/off the south of Australia.

During the day Tasmanian devils sleep in nests made of/off leaves and grass. At night they go out to look for food.

Tasmanian devils are carnivores. They sometimes attack chickens and turkeys. But most of/off the time they search for dead sheep, birds and wallabies. Because they eat the bones and fur, too, they are very efficient at keeping their territory clean.

Tasmanian devils have an evil-looking smile and a loud bark. They fight each other over food, but they are no more savage than any other animal.

The red kangaroo

The red kangaroo is about 1.8 metres tall. It has very strong back legs and quite short front legs. It lives on the grasslands of Australia and eats grass.

When it's eating, the kangaroo goes about on all fours. But when it needs to travel fast, it hops on its back legs. The red kangaroo hops 9m in one go. It's also very fast. Kangaroos can travel at a speed of about 48km/hour.

Kangaroos also use their powerful back paws when fighting. They box with their front paws, then balance on their tails and kick as hard as they can with their back legs.

Kangaroos are nature's Thai boxing champions!

The koala

Link the words below to the correct antonyms, words that mean the opposite:

thin, not liked, put together

Koalas look like fat little bears. They are about 80 centimetres long and weigh about 15 kilograms. Although they look sweet, koalas have long, sharp claws and a bad temper.

Koalas spend most of their lives in eucalyptus trees. Their favourite food is eucalyptus leaves.

Eucalyptus leaves are very tough and don't have a lot of nutrients. Koalas have a special digestive system that helps break the leaves down. They also eat little stones to help break up the leaves.

Joeys (baby koalas) live inside their mum's pouch for seven months. After this, they cling to their mum's back for a further five months. When they are about 18 months old, they move to a eucalyptus tree of their own. Koalas can live up to 15 years.

fab fact!

Marsupial comes from the Latin marsupium, a word that means 'pouch'

fab fact!

The world's smallest marsupials are planigales. These little mice are only 10cm long. They live in Australia and New Guinea

compare!

The thylacosmilus (thigh-lah-kohs-mill-us) was a dinosaur marsupial the size of a lion. It also had huge sabre teeth. Today's biggest marsupial is the red kangaroo

now do this

Try to answer the following questions without referring to the text

1. Marsupials are ...

a. animals with pouches

b. mammals that lay eggs

c. vegetarian

2. Opossums eat ...

a. eucalyptus leaves

b. meat and fruit

c. practically everything

3. Koalas eat ...

a. eucalyptus leaves

b. meat and fruit

c. practically everything

4. Red kangaroos live in ...

a. Australia

b. Tasmania

c. South America

5. Tasmanian devils are asleep ...

a. all day

b. all night

c. most of the time

6. Planigales, the smallest marsupials, are ...

a. like bears

b. like cats

c. like mice

Look online for more about marsupials

Enchanted Learning Marsupials

Colouring pages and more information about 19 exciting marsupials.

Marsupials

Click on the pictures in the sidebar for pictures and fun facts.

Marsupial Ring

A huge list of sites discussing living and dinosaur marsupials.

Answers:

True or False: 1. T, 2. T, 3. F

Antonyms: fat, favourite, break up

Synonyms: common, underground, fussy

Correct alternative: off, of, of

Quiz: 1.a, 2. c, 3. a, 4. a, 5. a, 6. c