Marsupial

Marsupials; Temporal range: Possible Late Cretaceous records
	Clockwise from left: eastern grey kangaroo, Virginia opossum, long-nosed bandicoot, monito del monte and Tasmanian devil representing the orders Diprotodontia, Didelphimorphia, Peramelemorphia, Microbiotheria and Dasyuromorphia respectively
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Marsupialiformes
Infraclass:	Marsupialia; Illiger, 1811
Orders
	Didelphimorphia; Paucituberculata; Australidelphia Microbiotheria; Dasyuromorphia; Peramelemorphia; Notoryctemorphia; Diprotodontia; †Yalkaparidontia; †Polydolopimorphia?; ;
	Present-day distribution of marsupials Introduced Native

Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are primarily found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of the defining features of marsupials is their unique reproductive strategy, where the young are born in a relatively undeveloped state and then nurtured within a pouch.

Living marsupials encompass a wide range of species, including kangaroos, koalas, opossums, Tasmanian devils, wombats, wallabies, and bandicoots, among others. Each species exhibits distinct adaptations and behaviors suited to its particular ecological niche.

Marsupials constitute a clade stemming from the last common ancestor of extant metatherians, which encompasses all mammals more closely related to marsupials than to placentals. This evolutionary split between placentals and marsupials occurred at least 125 million years ago, possibly dating back over 160 million years to the Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous period.

Characteristically, marsupials give birth to relatively underdeveloped offspring that typically reside in a pouch situated on their mothers' abdomen for a period of time. Presently, close to 70% of the 334 extant species of marsupials are concentrated on the Australian continent, including mainland Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and nearby islands. The remaining 30% are distributed across the Americas, primarily in South America, with thirteen species in Central America and a single species, the Virginia opossum, inhabiting North America north of Mexico.

The word marsupial comes from marsupium, the technical term for the abdominal pouch. It, in turn, is borrowed from the Latin marsupium and ultimately from the ancient Greek μάρσιππος mársippos, meaning "pouch".