marsupial

Eluding us is the numbat, a rare Australian marsupial which could be the love-child of a chipmunk and an anteater.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

If that is correct, Keeunamorphia could represent one of the earliest marsupial orders to branch off from the main lineage.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

"It may be the early ancestor of all our marsupial carnivores."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

The herbivorous marsupial can also reabsorb water from the colon and produce more concentrated urine to preserve hydration, or allow its body temperature to fluctuate with the environment in a process known as heterothermy.

From Barron's ● May 26, 2026

But Australia / New Guinea formerly had its own suite of diverse big mammals, including giant kangaroos, rhinolike marsupials called diprotodonts and reaching the size of a cow, and a marsupial “leopard.”

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

That possibility challenges the simpler version of marsupial evolution, in which one ancestral group gave rise to the full diversity of Australian marsupials.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

Instead, the teeth resembled those of Djarthia murgonensis, an extinct marsupial that lived about 35 million years earlier and is often viewed as a prototype for Australian marsupials.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

"Evolutionary history is a lot more complex than just one group leading to all of Australia's marsupials after being left behind when the continent broke off from Antarctica," says Dr. Churchill.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

Yet despite their success, scientists still do not fully understand how marsupials diversified across Australia.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026

He said hornets better represent the Merryweather spirit than foreign marsupials, plus the Wombat mascot costume was going to suck money from the prom committee’s budget.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson