Marsupial Biology and Management

Learn About this Small but Significant Group of Animals

Marsupials are a relatively small group of animals, making up just 5% of the world’s known animals. However, they are a significant group of animals in Australasia where more than two thirds of the known 330 species are found. They are also important in the Americas where 95 species are found.

Study this course to understand the diversity, biology, behaviour, and wellbeing of marsupial animals and apply that understanding to better manage individual animals or populations in the wild or in captivity.

Develop Your Knowledge of Pouched Animals

Study this captivating course to understand the diversity, biology, behaviour, and wellbeing of marsupial animals.
Apply your understanding to better manage individual animals or populations of animals, either in the wild or in captivity.

Course Content

There are ten lessons in this course, each requiring approximately 10 hours of work including reading, additional research, completing the set tasks and assignments.

The content of each of the ten lessons is as outlined below:
1. Introduction – scope and nature, overview of taxonomy
2. Anatomy and Physiology – muscles, skeleton, adaptations, thermoregulation, reproduction, internal anatomy, physiology, and senses
3. Behaviour – communication, social, handling
4. Health & Disease
5. Marsupial Carnivores – the dasyuromorphia (families are dasyuridae (dasyurids), myrmecobiidae (numbats), and thylacinidae (thylacinids).
6. The Diprotodontia - kangaroos
7. Other Diprotodontia – koalas, wombats, pygmy possums, sugar gliders, potoroos, ringtail possum
8. Peramelemorphia - bandicoots & bilbies
9. Other Marsupials
10. Marsupial Conservation and Management - sustainable management

This course will help you understand the classification of marsupials, their anatomy and bodily systems, distinguishing features, social, feeding and mating behaviours, and threats such as diseases.

You will also learn in detail about some specific groups of marsupials. The course also examines how conservation and sustainable management practices can be used to help improve the future for these wonderful animals.

Understanding Marsupials

Unlike placental mammals, marsupials are born at an embryonic stage of development. They then develop to independence by attaching firmly to the teat of the mothers. Teats may be exposed but in most marsupial species they are covered by pouches. These pouches may be only partially developed, or they may be full pouches such as those found in species like kangaroos.

Marsupials include some of the world’s most fascinating animals such as koalas, kangaroos, possums, opossums, gliders, Tasmanian devils, and bandicoots.

Unfortunately, the rapid and increasing rate of forest clearance due to land grabbing, high population growth rates, and increasing poverty resulting in increased poaching, provide increasing threats to all regional species including marsupials. Of the 95 marsupial species in the Americas, the mouse opossums include the only IUCN thirteen species listed as threatened.

Why Study This Course?

Other than boosting your knowledge of the animal kingdom, this course could help you to make a difference to the future survival of marsupial species.

Marsupials are under threat in the wild. Despite the resilience of many species, they have faced problems in the Americas through competition with placental animals. Since European colonisation, Australasia has experienced the greatest rate of mammalian extinctions globally including both marsupial and placental species. Vast areas of southern Australia have been modified into agricultural areas for grain production and grazing. Habitat destruction has also been due to introduced grazers including rabbits, goats, camels, and sheep, and inappropriate burning regimes.

Introduced placental predators including cats and the red fox, Vulpes vulpes, have resulted in the decline and extinction of many species. The effects of rabbits and foxes were exacerbated by the extermination of dingos, and through genocide of the traditional hunter gatherers that as competitors, controlled predator numbers.

As with all species marsupials are naturally subject to a range of pathogens and parasites. However, exotic pathogens are thought to have resulted in the extinction of some carnivorous marsupials in southern mainland Australia soon after European colonisation, and more recently have threatened the largest surviving carnivorous marsupial the Tasmanian devil, with emerging pathogens threatening wombats.

Who Is This Course For?

This course provides a solid introduction to the marsupial kingdom which can be used as a foundation for further study or to boost your knowledge of this group of animals.

It is ideally suited to people working in the fields of – animal research, veterinary assistant, zoology, zookeeping, wildlife management, environmental science, and conservation.