The only water-living marsupial, with a watertight sealing pouch
This is the only marsupial that hunts underwater, and its pouch seals completely watertight.
Which one is REALLY true about the Yapok?
The short version
The yapok, or water opossum, has webbed hind feet and hunts fish by feel with its eyes shut. Because it dives while carrying young, its pouch has a ring of muscle that pulls shut into a watertight seal so the babies stay dry. The male has a pouch too, used to tuck away his genitals while swimming.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Yapok is the only marsupial on Earth that lives and hunts in the water.
- ✓The Yapok has webbed back feet and sweeps its long fingers through the water to find fish and crayfish by feel.
- ✓The Yapok hunts with its eyes shut, feeling for instead of looking for it.
- ✓The Yapok carries its babies in a pouch ringed with strong muscle that pulls shut into a watertight seal.
- ✓The Yapok is the only marsupial where the male has a pouch as well, which he uses to stay smooth and streamlined while swimming.
You could line up about 3 of them along a 7-year-old!
The full story
This is the only marsupial on Earth that lives in the water, and its pouch is waterproof. Meet the yapok, also called the water opossum, found in streams from Mexico down to Argentina. It has webbed back feet and hunts fish and crayfish by feel, sweeping its long fingers through the water with its eyes shut. But that creates an obvious problem. A marsupial carries its babies in a pouch, and this one dives. So the yapok evolved a pouch ringed with strong muscle that pulls it shut into a watertight seal. The babies stay completely dry inside while their mother swims underwater. And strangely, the male has a pouch as well, which he uses to stay smooth and streamlined while he swims. It is the only marsupial on Earth where both sexes carry one. Follow for more weird animal facts.
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“The Yapok is the only marsupial on Earth that lives and hunts in the water.”
“The Yapok piles into a noisy greeting rally before every hunt, and the sneezes inside that rally work like votes.”
“The Yapok has webbed back feet and sweeps its long fingers through the water to find fish and crayfish by feel.”