Ecology
The platypus defends against predators using venomous spurs found on this part of its body
What are their (hind) ankles?
This IUCN category describes species that face a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
What is endangered?
This is the only extant marsupial species in North America
What is the Virginia opossum?
The oldest fossils related to modern marsupials, approximately 125 million years old, were found in this country
What is China?
This Looney Tunes character represents a real marsupial which has suffered major population declines.
Who is Taz the Tazmanian Devil?
Echidnas use their beaks and long tongues to eat this class of animal, their primary food source
What are insects?
When the number of individuals in a species continues to fall over time, scientists describe the population as having this type of trend.
What is a decreasing population trend?
This is the total number of species of echidna
What is four?
Some marsupials can undergo this process for just 12 days. Other mammals can experience it for 22 months
What is gestation?
This type of marsupial is mentioned in a saying which means "to play dead", even though the species does not actually do so
What is possum?
Kangaroos live in groups of up to 50, and the groups are known by this name
What is a mob?
Habitat loss, agriculture, invasive species, disease, pollution, and climate change are all examples of these.
What are conservation threats?
This legendary British naturalist had an echidna named after him
Who is Sir David Frederick Attenborough?
This term refers to a group of mammals encompassing all marsupials and Sinodelphys, their extinct relatives
What is metatheria?
This secret-agent monotreme may be fictional, but his real-life relatives depend on healthy freshwater habitats and are threatened by drought, habitat degradation, and altered waterways
Who is Perry the Platypus?
This is the only semi-aquatic marsupial species
What is the water opossum?
This organization maintains the Red List, which evaluates species based on their risk of extinction.
What is the IUCN?
This is the most endangered marsupial species
What is Gilbert’s potoroo? (Potorous gilbertii)
Fossils which closely resemble monotremes were recently found on this island in the Indian Ocean
What is Madagascar?
Despite looking like rodents, and sharing several predators with mice, this genus is indeed from an order of marsupials
What is dunnart (Sminthopsis)?
Although adult kangaroos have no natural predators, this other marsupial species used to hunt the young joeys
What is the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger)?
Conservationists may breed threatened animals in controlled settings and later release them into the wild using this strategy.
What is captive breeding and reintroduction?
This is the total number of extant marsupial species
What is 410?
This mammal species can be found in a greater diversity of habitats than any other besides the house mouse
What is the short-beaked echidna?
This curator of mammals at the National Museum of Natural History showed us several mammalian specimens including some marsupials and monotremes
Who is Melissa (Missy) Hawkins?