Talk:Pouch (marsupial)

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The main picture on the page looks like it has been photoshoped. The head of the joey was definitely pasted from a different picture. panova 02:17, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Going by the given information it is logical to assume that only females have a pouch. Is this true?

Yes. Shinobu 15:43, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

But since male mammals has nipples, and the female has it in her pouch, where is the male kangaroo's nipple? 74.100.161.64 13:32, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

This article smells like ########. Klosterdev (talk) 04:15, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

To put a finer point on it, mammals are the only types of species that have any sort of mammary glands at all. That is their primary distinguishing feature.

In many of the more prominent species of mammals, both males and females of the species have mammary glands.

However, with Australian marsupials, the males never show any signs of mammary glands, even at the fetal stages of development. On the other hand, North American marsupials like the Virginia Opossums have been reported to show signs of mammary glands at birth in males. (see http://dev.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/110/2/385.pdf )

Still, the mammary pouch structure itself does not exist in the males. Even some varieties of female marsupials lack a well-defined pouch. ( see http://web.missouri.edu/~krausew/Histology/Home_files/opossum.pdf pages 16-18 )

Some (but not all) male marsupials do have a distinct scrotal pouch though. Goosnarrggh (talk) 14:01, 7 November 2008 (UTC)