General Poetry posted May 28, 2019 |
Opossums have an opposable thumb - see notes
A Lumbering Opposum
by Mark D. R.
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If you want detailed info about the opposum, check out: opossumsocietyus.org
The opossum, a marsupial, has opposable "thumbs." The opossum's "thumbs" (called halux) are on its rear feet (so, technically they're toes), and abet the opossum's formidable climbing skills. Primates and opossums are the only mammals with opposable first toes.
Australia is the kingdom of marsupials, home to furry kangaroos, koalas and wombats. The continent has so many marsupials, it raises the question: Did these pouch-bearing mammals arise Down Under?
The answer is an unqualified (or "un-koalafied") no. Marsupials were around for at least 70 million years before they made it to Australia, according to Robin Beck, a lecturer in biology at the University of Salford in the United Kingdom.
"Marsupials absolutely categorically did not originate in Australia," Beck told Live Science. "They are immigrants."
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and 2 member cents. If you want detailed info about the opposum, check out: opossumsocietyus.org
The opossum, a marsupial, has opposable "thumbs." The opossum's "thumbs" (called halux) are on its rear feet (so, technically they're toes), and abet the opossum's formidable climbing skills. Primates and opossums are the only mammals with opposable first toes.
Australia is the kingdom of marsupials, home to furry kangaroos, koalas and wombats. The continent has so many marsupials, it raises the question: Did these pouch-bearing mammals arise Down Under?
The answer is an unqualified (or "un-koalafied") no. Marsupials were around for at least 70 million years before they made it to Australia, according to Robin Beck, a lecturer in biology at the University of Salford in the United Kingdom.
"Marsupials absolutely categorically did not originate in Australia," Beck told Live Science. "They are immigrants."
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