I was reading something the other day and it claimed that marsupials are not mammals. And that evolutionarially speaking, they are further removed from humans than whales are.
Is this the case? If so then why? It was always my understanding that marsupials were a specific class of mammal, given that they are warm-blooded and give live birth to their young.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/marsupial/marsupial.html
maybe this helps.
Marsupials are mammals. Don’t believe everything you read.
Yes, evolutionary speaking, they are further removed from us than whales. (You can believe that part)
The source you read was incorrect. It would have been correct for them to say that marsupials are not placental mammals, though.
Marsupials are all also further removed from us evolutionarily speaking than shrews, woolly mammoths or bats.