UPSC Prelims 2023 Q12: Marsupials and India — Explained
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I:
Marsupials are not naturally found in India.
Statement-II:
Marsupials can thrive only in montane grasslands with no predators.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
- Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
- Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
- Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
- Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct
Answer: (c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
Statement-wise explanation
- Statement-I: correct — Marsupials are native to two regions only. The first is Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania, with about 175 species including kangaroos, wombats and bandicoots. The second is the Americas, which has more than 80 opossum species in South and Central America and one species, the Virginia opossum, in North America. No marsupial is native to India. The kangaroos and wallabies found in India are in zoos or come from illegal trade, like the kangaroos recovered in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, in April 2022.
- Statement-II: incorrect — Marsupials live in many kinds of habitat: rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, grasslands, rivers and lakes, and deserts. The marsupial mole even burrows in the sandy deserts of central and western Australia. They also live alongside predators, and some marsupials are predators themselves, such as the Tasmanian devil and the quolls. Since the statement is false, it cannot explain Statement-I. Marsupials are absent from India because of the history of the continents, not because of habitat.
How to eliminate
Statement-II contains two absolute claims: 'only' in montane grasslands, and 'no predators'. Basic knowledge rules both out. Kangaroos live on open plains and in dry scrub, opossums live in American forests and towns, and the Tasmanian devil is itself a predator. A statement that confines a whole group of animals to one habitat is almost always false. Statement-I matches what most aspirants already know: kangaroos and koalas are Australian, and India has none in the wild. That removes the option that calls Statement-I incorrect. Once Statement-II is false, both 'both correct' options go too, which leaves 'Statement-I correct, Statement-II incorrect'. Fact to remember: marsupials are native only to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and to the Americas.
Know more
Marsupials are mammals whose young are born at a very early stage. The young then finish developing outside the mother's body, usually in a pouch (marsupium). Placental mammals (tigers, elephants, humans) nourish the young inside the womb for much longer.
Where they live today
| Region | Marsupials found | Approx. species |
|---|---|---|
| Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania | Kangaroos, wallabies, koala, wombats, bandicoots, Tasmanian devil, quolls, marsupial mole | ~175 |
| South & Central America | Opossums (rat opossums, water opossum) | 80+ |
| North America | Virginia opossum (single species) | 1 |
| India, Africa, Europe, mainland Asia | None native | 0 |
Why the map looks like this. The most widely accepted theory is that marsupials arose in the Americas. They then reached Australia over land at a time when South America, Antarctica and Australia were joined as part of Gondwana. India had already broken away from Gondwana and drifted north. As a result, it never received marsupials, and its mammal fauna is made up of placental mammals. Australia then stayed isolated for a long time. With few placental competitors, its marsupials spread into nearly every way of life: grazers (kangaroos), burrowers (wombats, marsupial mole), tree-dwellers (koala, possums) and carnivores (Tasmanian devil). Biologists call this adaptive radiation.
Habitats are not the limiting factor. Marsupials live in deserts, tropical rainforests, temperate forests in the Andes and Chile, rivers and grasslands. Their absence from a region reflects biogeography: continental drift and geographic barriers.
Exam angle: Prelims also asks about other species with unusual distributions, such as monotremes (egg-laying mammals: platypus and echidna, found only in Australia and New Guinea) and island endemics. Link each one to plate tectonics and isolation.
In the news
In April 2022, kangaroos were found abandoned near Gajoldoba and Siliguri in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal. Reports linked them to exotic-wildlife smuggling routes from Myanmar, and the case raised the question of whether marsupials can occur naturally in India. UPSC probably used this as a static check on that question.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Shola forest: Statement-II talks about montane grasslands. India's shola–grassland mosaic in the Western Ghats is a habitat of exactly that type.
- Biodiversity: Whether a species is native to a region is a question about how biodiversity is spread across continents and biogeographic regions.