marsupial

Mammal in which the female has a pouch where young (born tiny and immature) are carried for a considerable time after birth. Marsupials include omnivorous, herbivorous, and carnivorous species, among them the kangaroo, wombat, opossum, phalanger, bandicoot, dasyure, and wallaby.

The Australian marsupial anteater known as the numbat is an exception to the rule in that it has no pouch.

A study released in 2000 of an extinct Australian marsupial found that it was a fierce predator which existed for several millions of years in Australia, dying out in the last 50,000 years. Having studied fossilized remains, researchers now believe that the species Thylacoleo carnifex, once thought to have been a lightweight vegetarian, was about the size and weight of a female lion, with a skull and teeth adapted to tearing through flesh.

In 2003 the earliest known marsupial fossil was discovered in China. The 125-million-year-old remains of Sinodelphys szalayi belonged to a mouse-sized ancestor of modern marsupials, and were 50 million years older than the previous record-holder.