The New York herald., 1922-06-18


This little animal, owing to its not
being able to stand the changed con-
ditions Of environment, caused by
the settlement of the country, is fast
becoming exterminated and is at
present to be found on a compare
lively small part Of its former range.
It is sad fact that not only the
above. but all the mammals of Aus
tralia, are. either from the fact that
their fur or hides are of commercial
value or that they to a certain ex-
tent destroy the farmers crops, ap-
preaching ultimate extinction. Sad,
because their habitat is limited to
Australia and their extinction would
mean a loss to the world of
peculiarly interesting group Of
primitive mammals.
Many of These Mammals
Will Soon Be Extinct
The marsupials are a very inter-
esting group in that they are among
the most primitive mammals that
exist at the present day. The young
are born at a very immature stage
and are usually carried about in a
capacious pouch situated low down
ON the exterior of the mothers alb
domen until they are able to run
about and fend for themselves
When very small they are found sos
tightly adhered to the teat that their
mouths will bleed if they are forcibly-
removed. This is caused by the fact
that the end of the teat extends down
into the gullet so as to enable the
young to breathe and drink at the
same time. The adherence of the
young on the teat and the very
embryonic stage in which they are
found in the pouch has given rise to
the belief among the Australians
that they originate in the pouch, but,
Of course, this is not so.
With some of the marsupials it
has been ascertained that the young
crawl into, the pouch by their own
efforts. and it has been adduced that
this is the. case with all of them.
The feasibility of this can be seen
by the facts that when the young
are born. although the hind legs are
mere buds. the fore limbs are fully
developed. claws and all, and that, II
the young are removed from the
pouch and placed on the body of the
mother. they will Immediately start
crawling through the fur and nose
about in blind effort to reach the
pouch.
When first born the marsupials
are indeed comical looking objects.
They are practically all head and
shoulders. the mouth is merely a
small round hole. there is no sign
of the eyes and only a slight indi-
cation Of where the ears will
eventually be. The hair does not
appear until all the various parts
are fully developed and the young
has taken on the general appear
ance OF the adult. Even after the
young has left the pouch for good
1t will keep with the mother and
whenever thirsty will stick its head
into the pouch and take a drink.
The kangaroo very rarely has more
than one young at time, but with
some OF the other marsupials the
number of young will go as high as
ten. In some Of the smaller species.
where the number of young is ten.
when they increase in size they can
nc longer be contained in the pouch,
and so. when the mother is turned
on her back. they present the ap-
pearance of bunch of grapes
tightly adhered to her abdomen.
Many thousands of people an
nually visit the various museums,
but out of this great number there
are only a few that go further
than to admire the artistic and life
like way in which the various groups
OF mammals are set up. Most