VIRGINIA OPOSSUM (Didelphis virginiana)
VIRGINIA OPOSSUM
(Didelphis virginiana)
This ratlike animal, the largest marsupial in the Americas, is the only one that lives north of Mexico. IT has a pointed snout, untidy fur, and a long, bare tail. Virginia opossums are tree-dwelling animals. They feed after dark and will eat almost anything alive or dead. If cornered, they protect themselves by playing possum or pretending to be dead. Females can give birth to more than 30 young at a time, but only a small number survive.
This animal is one of nearly 50 species of mouselike opossums in the forests of Central and South America. It spends most of its time in trees, tracking down insects and other animals after dark with its keen eyesight and hearing. Female mouse opossums have simple flaplike pouches and their young have to cling to their mother's fur as she scuttles around.
This is the only marsupial that lives partly in water. It has a long body with a ratlike tail, water-repellent fur, and webbed back feet. Yapoks dive to catch fish and other water animals to eat. Females can shut their pouches with a ring of muscle when they dive, to prevent their young from drowning.
Quolls are the marsupial equivalents of small cats. There are six species, all from Australia or New Guinea. Most have lithe and slender bodies, large eyes, and spotted fur, and they all climb well. Quolls live in forests and open country. They eat all kinds of small animals, including lizards and small birds, and are efficient hunters, although they are not good at defending themselves against the cats and dogs that have been introduced. The eastern quoll has almost disappeared from the Australian mainland, leaving Tasmania as its last stronghold.
The koala is one of Australia's most famous animals. Although it is often called a koala bear, koalas and bears are very different. The koala is a marsupial, and it feeds entirely on the leaves of the gum tree, or eucalyptus, getting all its water from its food. Koalas have sharp claws that allow them to grip even the smoothest bark and shimmy up to reach their food. Female koalas have one offspring at a time. Their pouches open near the rear of their bodies, so when they are upright, the opening faces the ground. Although this sounds dangerous, the young koalas never fall out.
Heavily-built wombats spend their lives on or under the ground. They are even more bearlike than koalas, with powerful front feet equipped with impressive claws. They use these claws to dig burrows up to 100 feet long. During the day, wombats rest inside their burrows, but at night, they emerge to feed on grass and other plants. There are three species of wombats, found only in Australia and Tasmania. The common wombat is the heaviest, weighing up to 75 pounds.
This animal is one of Australia's most elusive marsupials - partly because it lives in remote places, but mainly becaue it spends most of its life under ground. It has silky, golden-yellow fur, long claws, and a flat shield on its head with which it pushes sand aside as it burrows. It can dig to depths of 8 feet. Marsupial moles feed on insects and the females have backward-opening pouches.
This squirrellike animal is one of Australia's most common marsupials and one of the few that is at home in cities. Originally a tree-dweller, it often runs over roofs or into attics after dark, making so much noise that it keeps people awake. Brush-tailed possums feed on leaves, flowers, and fruit. They spend the day holed up out of sight, so they are heard more often that they are seen.
There are no flying marsupials, but some species are experts at gliding from tree to tree. They launch themselves from the treetops and glide up to 300 feet on flaps of tightly stretched skin. When they land on another tree trunk, the skin folds up, and they scamper away. the greater glider is the largest of these airborne marsupials, with a body about the size of a cat's. Its skin flaps reach from its elbows to its ankles and it balances with its long flattened tail
This mouse-sized animal is the smallest gliding marsupial. Though it is nocturnal, it is easy to see with a flashlight because it is gray on top and white underneath. Pygmy gliders feed on insects, flowers, and eucalyptus gum. A female can hold up to four young in her pouch, and the young stay on board at all times - even when their mother launches into the air.
The Tasmanian devil hunts slow-moving animals, including insects and snakes, but feeds mainly on dead animals such as birds, wombats, and sheep. It will eat the whole carcas, including the fur and feathers. It can even crush the bones with its teeth. Tasmanian devils usually search for food on their own, but they gather in groups where there is plenty to eat.
Kangaroos are the world's largest marsupials and also the fastest. Eastern gray kangaroos are up to 5 feet tall when they rest on thier haunches, but they are even taller when they stand on their toes. They can run at up to 35 miles per hour in short bursts, taking leaps the length of two cars. Kangaroos live in dry, open country. They feed mainly on grass and breed whenever the food supply is good enough. Female kangaroos give birth to one baby, or joey, at a time. A newborn joey is less than 2 inches long, and only its front legs are fully formed. It crawls through its mother's fur to her pouch, where it spends the next six months. Then it leaves the pouch, but for several months it will climb back in if danger threatens.
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LONG-FOOTED POTOROO
(Potourous longipes)
Potoroos belong to the kangaroo family, but they look more like giant rodents. They have soft, silky fur and pointed muzzles, but they also have the kangaroo "trademark" - powerful back legs paired with much smaller front legs. Potoroos live in grassland and scrub. Compared to their larger relatives, they eat a wide range of food, including grass, insects and fungi.
This miniature kangaroo lives in Australia's rain forests, where it feeds on leaves, fruit, and small animals. It is unusual for several reasons. For example, it often darts around on all fours, trailing its ratlike tail. It is also the only kangaroo that gives birth to twins - all other kangaroos have just one joey at a time. Musky rat-kangaroos sleep in nests that they build on the ground. Most mammals carry nesting material in their mouths or paws, but these kangaroos use their tails instead.
Rock wallabies are similar to kangaroos, but they are much more agile. They live in mountains and other rocky places and have soft, nonslip pads on their feet. These give them such a good grip that they can climb vertical cliffs and bound across ravines up to 13 feet wide. Unlike most kangaroos, their tails do not have a thickened base, and they use them for balance rather than as a prop. the yellow-footed rock wallaby is the largest of six species of rock wallabies. It is also one of the most endangered because, until recently, it has been hunted for its fur.
This endangered marsupial is a little larger than a hare. It lives on dry plains studded with clumps of drought-resistant spinifex grass, and it feeds on seeds and leaves. During the day, it rests in any shade that it can find, dashing off like a hare if it is disturbed. Two hundred years ago, rufous hare-wallabies were common across much of Australia. Today very few are left, and a program is underway to save the species from extinction.
The quokka was one of the first marsupials Europeans saw when they explored the coast of western Australia in the late 1600's. Thinking is was a kind of rat, they called one of its main breeding areas Rat's Nest Island. Quokkas are actually much larger than rats, but they do have rodentlike faces and long, almost bare tails. They feed on plants, sometimes climbing into shrubs to get to leaves.
Tree kangaroos live in tropical rain forests and are very different from kangaroos that live on the ground. Their front and back legs are almost the same length, and their feet have soft pads and sharp, curved claws. Instead of tapering to a point, their tails are the same thickness all the way down, often with a fluffy tip. Tree kangaroos eat leaves and fruit, and they spend most of their time in the forest canopy. Bennett's tree kangaroo is one of two Australian species. Several others live in New Guinea-the most recently discovered was found in 1990.
Many of the animals listed above are native to Australia. Here is a Word Scramble of Australian Animals.
KIDS ONLY FUN PAGE**All Facts and Information contained in this website can be found in the following reference materials: The Kingfisher Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia and The Complete Book of Animals from The American Education Publishers
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MOUSE OPOSSUM
WATER OPOSSUM OR YAPOK
EASTERN QUOLL
KOALA 
COMMON WOMBAT
MARSUPIAL MOLE
BRUSH-TAILED POSSUM
GREATER GLIDER
PYGMY GLIDER
TASMANIAN DEVIL
EASTERN GRAY KANGAROO
MUSKY RAT-KANGAROO
YELLOW-FOOTED ROCK WALLABY
RUFOUS HARE-WALLABY OR MALA
Quokka
BENNETT'S TREE KANGAROO