Marsupial Mammals What is a Marsupial? Marsupials are a group of mammals that have an external pouch located on their mother's abdomen in which they carry their young. Most marsupials live in Australia, where they have evolved into some unique and unusual animals. Marsupials range in size from the 1.8 meter tall red kangaroo which weighs 90kgs to the tiny, shrew-like long-tailed planigale which is just 6 cm in length and weighs only 4 gms.
Whale ribs loosely articulate with their thoracic vertebrae at the proximal end, but they do not form a rigid rib cage. This adaptation allows the chest to compress during deep dives as opposed to resisting the force of water pressure.
The spermaceti organs may also help adjust the whale's buoyancy. It is hypothesized that before the whale dives, cold water enters the organ, and it is likely that the blood vessels constrict, reducing blood flow, and, hence, temperature.ature males average at 16 metres (52 ft) in length but some may reach 20.5 metres (67 ft), with the head representing up to one-third of the animal's length. The sperm whale feeds primarily on squid.