Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Marsupialia"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mammalia \Mam*ma"li*a\, n. pl. [NL., from L. mammalis. See
{Mammal}.] (Zo["o]l.)
The highest class of Vertebrata. The young are nourished for
a time by milk, or an analogous fluid, secreted by the
mammary glands of the mother.
Note: Mammalia are divided into three subclasses; -- I.
{Placentalia}. This subclass embraces all the higher
orders, including man. In these the fetus is attached
to the uterus by a placenta. II. {Marsupialia}. In
these no placenta is formed, and the young, which are
born at an early state of development, are carried for
a time attached to the teats, and usually protected by
a marsupial pouch. The opossum, kangaroo, wombat, and
koala are examples. III. {Monotremata}. In this group,
which includes the genera {Echidna} and
{Ornithorhynchus}, the female lays large eggs
resembling those of a bird or lizard, and the young,
which are hatched like those of birds, are nourished by
a watery secretion from the imperfectly developed
mamm[ae].
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Marsupialia \Mar*su`pi*a"li*a\, n. pl. [NL., fr. L. marsupium a
pouch, bag, purse, Gr. ?, dim. of ?, ?.] (Zo["o]l.)
A subclass of Mammalia, including nearly all the mammals of
Australia and the adjacent islands, together with the
opossums of America. They differ from ordinary mammals in
having the corpus callosum very small, in being implacental,
and in having their young born while very immature. The
female generally carries the young for some time after birth
in an external pouch, or marsupium. Called also {Marsupiata}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
Marsupialia
n : coextensive with the subclass Metatheria [syn: {Marsupialia},
{order Marsupialia}]
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