1.
marsupials; marsupial mammals
A group of mammals whose young are born at a very early stage of development and continue to grow in a pouch on the mother's abdomen. Includes kangaroos, koalas, wombats, and opossums; mostly native to Australia and the Americas.
Composed of 有 (having), 袋 (bag, here read as たい in on-reading) and 類 (group, kind, taxonomic category). A zoological classification term used in biology and nature writing.
Usage
- A plain technical noun; does not take する.
- The suffix 〜類 is used broadly in Japanese biology to form group names: 哺乳類 (mammals), 爬虫類 (reptiles), 鳥類 (birds).