Random Fascinating Facts You Probably Never Learned About Marsupials (25 items)

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  (#24) Marsupial lion

  The long-extinct marsupial "lion" used to be the biggest meat-eating mammal in Australia, measuring 59 inches head-to-tail and 30 inches high at the shoulder. It used a huge slicing cheek tooth and a large incisor to devour its prey, all while still sporting (for the females, at least) a baby-carrying pouch that has long been the mark of a marsupial.
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  (#4) Possum

  • Organism Classification

  Possums may not be able to fetch, but they can sure play dead: when possums are "playing possum," they are actually just passed out from stress (most likely from a predator).
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  (#5) Opossum

  • Organism Classification

  Opossums produce a protein that renders them virtually immune to almost all snake poison. Pretty cool, right? That's not even the best part: scientists have injected the protein into rats, rendering them immune as well!
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  (#20) Monito del Monte

  • Organism Classification

  Scientists call the adorable South American marsupial monito del monte ("Monkey of the Mountains") a "living fossil" because it is the only living member of the Microbiotheria order, an otherwise extinct species.
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  (#16) Sugar Glider

  • Organism Classification

  A male sugar glider rubs its bald spot - which is actually a scent gland - against other sugar gliders to mark its territory.
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  (#17) Musky Rat-Kangaroos Can Only Be Found In One Australian Rainforest

  The world's smallest kangaroo is also one of the rarest: the musky rat-kangaroo can only be found in a small rainforest in northeast Queensland, Australia.

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