A new study by biologists at King’s College London casts doubt on the notion that marsupials were more “primitive” than mammals. The authors are confident that the former has changed much more than the latter since marsupials and mammals shared a common ancestor. Scientists’ work published magazine current biology
“For a long time, people viewed marsupials as “inferior” animals, representing an intermediate stage between placental and egg laying. But our study disproves this well-established theory,” the experts said.
This idea originated from the fact that marsupials such as kangaroos give birth to their young in the early stages of their development and then complete their development in a special pouch. Placental mammals – like humans – are born instantly developed and do not need additional nutrition.
The scientists used CT scans to chart the changes, using samples from different evolutionary stages of 22 living species. The authors detected even more changes in the development of the marsupial skulls. Especially in marsupials, skull development is slower than that of placental mammals, whose common ancestor lived 160 million years ago.
“Premature birth in marsupials is not an intermediate form of oviparous and placental mammals, but a completely different branch of evolution. They have required major evolutionary changes, now we can say that they are the most advanced animals in the world, ”said the scientist.