Pouch (marsupial)

The pouch is a distinguishing feature of female marsupials, monotremes^[1]^[2]^[3] (and rarely in the males as in the yapok^[4] and the extinct thylacine); the name marsupial is derived from the Latin marsupium, meaning "pouch". This is due to the occurrence of epipubic bones, a pair of bones projecting forward from the pelvis. Marsupials give birth to a live but relatively undeveloped foetus called a joey. When the joey is born it crawls from inside the mother to the pouch. The pouch is a fold of skin with a single opening that covers the teats. Inside the pouch, the blind offspring attaches itself to one of the mother's teats and remains attached for as long as it takes to grow and develop to a juvenile stage.

^ Patricia J. Armati; Chris R. Dickman; Ian D. Hume (17 August 2006). Marsupials. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-45742-2.
^ Biology of Marsupials. Macmillan International Higher Education. 17 June 1977. ISBN 978-1-349-02721-7.
^ C. Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe (2005). Life of Marsupials. Csiro Publishing. ISBN 978-0-643-06257-3.
^ Nogueira, José Carlos, et al. "Morphology of the male genital system of Chironectes minimus and comparison to other didelphid marsupials." Journal of mammalogy 85.5 (2004): 834-841.

[ArmatiDickman2006-1] Patricia J. Armati; Chris R. Dickman; Ian D. Hume (17 August 2006). Marsupials. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-45742-2.

[2] Biology of Marsupials. Macmillan International Higher Education. 17 June 1977. ISBN 978-1-349-02721-7.

[Tyndale-Biscoe2005-3] C. Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe (2005). Life of Marsupials. Csiro Publishing. ISBN 978-0-643-06257-3.

[Nogueira-4] Nogueira, José Carlos, et al. "Morphology of the male genital system of Chironectes minimus and comparison to other didelphid marsupials." Journal of mammalogy 85.5 (2004): 834-841.

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