Joey (marsupial)

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Joey (marsupial)

A joey is any infant marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
.

Marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
s have an extremely short gestation

Gestation

Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during mammalian pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....
period (about 4–5 weeks), and the joey is 'born' basically in a fetal

Fetus

A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate, after the embryonic stage and before childbirth. The plural is fetuses, or sometimes feti....
state.

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A joey is any infant marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
.

Marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
s have an extremely short gestation

Gestation

Fetus

A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate, after the embryonic stage and before childbirth. The plural is fetuses, or sometimes feti....
state. The blind, furless, miniature newborn, the size of a jelly bean

Jelly bean

Jelly beans are a type of confectionery that comes in many different flavors. They are small and generally have a hard candy shell and gummy interior....
, crawls across its mother's fur to make its way into the pouch

Pouch (marsupial)

The pouch is a distinguishing feature of female marsupials; the name marsupial is derived from the Latin marsupium, meaning pouch. Marsupials give birth to a live but relatively undeveloped fetus called a joey ....
, where it latches onto a teat

Teat

Teat is an alternative word for the nipple of a mammary gland, in humans referred to as a breast, from which milk is discharged. Similarly, in Cattles, goats, etc., teats are the projections from the udder through which milk is discharged....
for food. It will not re-emerge for several months, during which time it develops fully. After this period, the joey begins to spend increasing lengths of time out of the pouch, grazing and learning survival skills. However, it returns to the pouch to sleep, and if danger threatens it will seek refuge in its mother's pouch for safety.

Joeys stay in the pouch for up to a year in some species, or until the next joey is born.A marsupial joey is unable to regulate its own body temperature, and thus relies upon an external heat source. Until the joey is well furred and old enough to leave the pouch, a pouch temperature between 30-32° Celsius must be constantly maintained.