I read this (by Geoffrey Simmons) and I had to laugh:
The wombat has an upside-down pouch. Scientists presume, and it makes sense, that position prevents dirt from entering the pouch when the wombat is digging in the ground. Could there have been transitional species with pouches situated sideways, or did the first wombats have to scoop dirt out of their pouches every day?
Filed under: Evolution, Intelligent Design, Science
The bandicoot and Tasmanian devil also have rearward facing pouches. They too are burrowers. However, Simmons doesn’t mention in his post that Koalas have upside down pouches as well…and they are arboreal. Maybe there’s a big problem with leaves filling up pouches?
Not to be crude, but there’s another very interesting physical feature common to all marsupials. The female has two separate uteruses and, consequently, two vaginas. How does the male choose? He doesn’t have to – he has a two-pronged penis. I wish Simmons would have commented on the design behind that!
Indeed. That would have likely made a quite humorous turn.