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Three Living Mammal Clades

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State

Monotremes, marsupials, and placentals form three clades: monotremes lay eggs; marsupials finish development in a pouch; placentals nourish young internally until birth.

Show

A platypus, a monotreme, lays eggs; a kangaroo, a marsupial, carries young in a pouch; most other mammals are placental.

Watch for

Egg-laying does not exclude monotremes from Mammalia — they nurse young with milk, meeting the criterion of Bio 2303.