marsupium
/mär-ˈsü-pē-əm/ (ame, mw)
marsupium — noun
1. a pocket of skin on the belly of female marsupial animals, such as kangaroos and
a pocket of skin on the belly of female marsupial animals, such as kangaroos and koalas, that holds the mammary glands and provides a safe place where newborn babies can feed and continue to grow after birth.
A newborn kangaroo, no bigger than a jellybean, crawls into its mother's marsupium right after birth.
collocation: mother's marsupium
Dr. Okafor pointed to the wallaby's swollen marsupium and explained that a joey was nursing inside.
domain-specific use: zoology observation
The koala's marsupium opens toward the rear instead of upward, a detail that surprised the students.
Wildlife carers checked the injured possum's marsupium to see if any babies had survived the accident.
When the joey grows too large for the marsupium, it begins to make short trips outside and climb back in.
- pouch
the everyday, non-technical word for marsupium; marsupium is formal/zoological.
- brood pouch
a broader term that can also refer to similar structures in non-marsupial animals; marsupium is specific to marsupials.
- placenta
in placental mammals, the developing young are nourished inside the uterus via a placenta rather than in an external pouch.
文法句型
the marsupium of [marsupial species]
[species]'s marsupium
用法筆記
Marsupium is the technical singular form; the plural is marsupia. In everyday language, most English speakers say 'pouch' instead of marsupium.
常見錯誤
2. a body part or chamber in certain animals without backbones, such as moss animal
a body part or chamber in certain animals without backbones, such as moss animals or snails, that holds eggs or young so they can develop safely.
In certain bryozoans, the colony's eggs develop inside a protective marsupium before being released into the water.
collocation: develop inside a protective marsupium
Dr. Amara Chen studied the marsupium of a freshwater snail under her laboratory microscope for three weeks.
Unlike the furry pouch of a kangaroo, a mollusk's marsupium is a simple fold of tissue.
The students drew diagrams comparing the marsupium of a bryozoan with that of a bivalve mollusk.
- brood chamber
a more general term for any structure that holds developing young; marsupium is the specific technical term in invertebrate zoology.
文法句型
marsupium of [species]
[species] with a marsupium
用法筆記
This sense is strictly technical and appears mainly in invertebrate zoology textbooks and research papers. The plural marsupia also applies here.