Editing Marsupial (section)

=== General and convergences ===
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| footer = The [[sugar glider]], a marsupial, (left) and [[flying squirrel]], a placental, (right) are examples of [[convergent evolution]].
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Marsupials have adapted to many habitats, reflected in the wide variety in their build. The largest living marsupial, the [[red kangaroo]], grows up to {{convert|1.8|m|ftin}} in height and {{convert|90|kg|lbs}} in weight. Extinct genera, such as ''[[Diprotodon]]'', were significantly larger and heavier. The smallest marsupials are the [[marsupial mice]], which reach only {{convert|5|cm|in}} in body length.

Some species resemble placentals and are examples of [[convergent evolution]]. This convergence is evident in both brain evolution<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Todorov OS, Blomberg SP, Goswami A, Sears K, Drhlík P, Peters J, Weisbecker V | title = Testing hypotheses of marsupial brain size variation using phylogenetic multiple imputations and a Bayesian comparative framework | journal = Proceedings. Biological Sciences | volume = 288 | issue = 1947 | pages = 20210394 | date = March 2021 | pmid = 33784860 | pmc = 8059968 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2021.0394 }}</ref> and behaviour.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Todorov OS |contribution=Marsupial Cognition |date=2019 | title = Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior |pages=1–8 | veditors = Vonk J, Shackelford T |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1167-1 |isbn=978-3-319-47829-6 |s2cid=242256517 }}</ref> The extinct [[thylacine]] strongly resembled the placental wolf, hence one of its nicknames "Tasmanian wolf". The ability to glide evolved in both marsupials (as with [[sugar glider]]s) and some placentals (as with [[flying squirrel]]s), which developed independently. Other groups such as the kangaroo, however, do not have clear placental counterparts, though they share similarities in lifestyle and ecological niches with [[ruminant]]s.