Name: Burbank School
Why do kangaroos have pouches?
Kangaroo pouches serve as the location where a developing young
kangaroo grows from about the size of a kidney bean to its size when it can
move about on its own.
The kangaroo begins its life as a fertilized egg much as the same way
as humans, but, as mentioned above, when the developing 'fetus'
is the size of about a kidney bean, it migrates, through what is really
a dangerous journey, from its mother's uterus to the pouch where it
continues development. The young kangaroo will mature there, and it
is often a humorous sight to see basically a fully developed small
kangaroo riding in its mother's pouch.
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Kangaroos are marsupials, belonging to the order _Marsupialia_ of
the class _Mammalia_. All marsupials have pouches called marsupiums
and do not have placentas like other mammals.
Can you think of a marsupial native to North America?
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Update: June 2012