Re: Re-emergence of lost features.

[Chris Nedin <cnedin@geology.adelaide.edu.au>]

Matt Troutman wrote:

>>Marsupials have smaller brain cases and lack the more acute sensory
>>abilities of placentals.
>
>Whoa! Marsupials for their smaller braincase size are incredibly
>intelligent.Some comparative studies trying to see the intelligence of
>some marsupials have shown that many are smarter than your common
>eutherians. They also have a higher learning capacity. I happen to own a
>pet marsupial, a sugar glider ( _Petaurus breviceps_) and it is not only
>smart, it is has very acute sensory abilities ( I've seen it jump and
>catch things in mid-air in very, very dark areas.) That statement that
>you made above is very wrong. Marsupials are not inferior in their
>intelligence, sensory ability, or reproduction ( the marsupial
>reproduction though it produces far less offspring, is very easy on the
>mother and produces a more stable species community).

Indeed, as I tell the students here, The only things proclaiming the
inferiority of marsupial reproduction are a) placental and b) male.

Only a placantal male could claim that giving birth to something the size
of your thumb is in any way inferior to giving birth to something the size
of a melon!

Chris
(Placental in a marsupial land)

cnedin@geology.adelaide.edu.au                  nedin@ediacara.org
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Many say it was a mistake to come down from the trees, some say
the move out of the oceans was a bad idea. Me, I say the stiffening
of the notochord in the Cambrian was where it all went wrong,
it was all downhill from there.