# Most intelligent marsupial **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774 "2020-04-14T15:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/1 "2020-04-14T15:34:53Z")
What is the most intelligent marsupial? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/2 "2020-04-14T16:03:59Z")
Whatever it is, it probably isn’t the American opossum, because those just are _not_ that bright. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/3 "2020-04-14T16:09:52Z")
The Tasmanian Devil I guess, because all the other marsupial predators are dead. I’m guessing for monotremes it’s the Platypus, pretty limited competition there. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/4 "2020-04-14T16:59:01Z")
Perry the Platypus. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/5 "2020-04-14T17:20:30Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Whatever it is, it probably isn’t the American opossum, because those just are _not_ that bright. That’s what I thought, but apparently I’m wrong. _“Although many people think opossums are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, there are several areas of intelligence in which they soar. For one, they have a remarkable ability to find food and to remember where it is. When tested for the ability to remember where food is, opossums scored better than rats, rabbits, cats, dogs … but not as well as humans. They also can find their way through a maze more quickly than rats and cats.”_ > **[10 Things You Didn't Know About Opossums](https://www.treehugger.com/things-you-didnt-know-about-opossums-4864240)** > > Did you know that opossums carry their babies in a pouch like kangaroos? Discover more cool facts about these unique marsupials. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/6 "2020-04-14T17:37:18Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Perry the Platypus. Not a marsupial. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/7 "2020-04-14T18:46:28Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > What is the most intelligent marsupial? Interestingly, while marsupials have usually been assumed to be less intelligent than placentals, it turns out there is [no systematic difference in brain size](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2941275/). Most of the average difference is due to the inclusion of the big-brained Primates among the placentals, and if they are removed, the difference largely disappears. The marsupials with relatively small brains are the kangaroos and bandicoots. However, the small carnivorous dasyures have brains larger than placentals of the same size. Interesting, monotremes, particularly echidnas, have brains that lie above the regression curve of brain vs body size for placentals. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/8 "2020-04-15T02:01:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > That’s what I thought, but apparently I’m wrong. > > _“Although many people think opossums are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, there are several areas of intelligence in which they soar. For one, they have a remarkable ability to find food and to remember where it is. When tested for the ability to remember where food is, opossums scored better than rats, rabbits, cats, dogs … but not as well as humans. They also can find their way through a maze more quickly than rats and cats.”_ Interesting. I once came upon an opossum in the barn, chowing down on cat food back when I still fed cats out there (and part of the reason why I stopped leaving cat food out other than in the house.) It tried, reasonably sensibly, to run away from me. It ran almost immediately into the side of a box full of something heavy – and just kept trying to push through the side of the box, unsuccessfully, while I got a bucket from elsewhere in the barn and then put the bucket down over it, trapping it. (I then slid something under the bucket, upended the assembly, and carried the possum in the bucket out some distance into the field, where I emptied the possum out of the bucket.) I can’t imagine any other creature not having dashed around the side of the box while I was getting the bucket. The possum just kept trying to power through it. It may, of course, not have been the brightest example of its species. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/9 "2020-04-15T03:19:03Z")
You didn’t need a bucket, just grab it by the tail (closer to the tip than to the base.) It can’t turn itself far enough to bite you. (Though I have seen young ones try to climb their own tail hand over hand while I hold them.) and they are so easy for me to catch because–much like yours–they get in a corner and just stop. And take their time getting there. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/10 "2020-04-15T03:33:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Interestingly, while marsupials have usually been assumed to be less intelligent than placentals, it turns out there is [no systematic difference in brain size](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2941275/). Most of the average difference is due to the inclusion of the big-brained Primates among the placentals, and if they are removed, the difference largely disappears. > > The marsupials with relatively small brains are the kangaroos and bandicoots. However, the small carnivorous dasyures have brains larger than placentals of the same size. > > Interesting, monotremes, particularly echidnas, have brains that lie above the regression curve of brain vs body size for placentals. Not koalas. They have among the smallest mammalian brains, about 0.2% of their body mass. Brain ratio is a very weak correlation with intelligence, nevertheless they appear to be a species that does not require much intelligent action. Of course this copypasta is mandatory: > [@Internets](#): > > Koalas are fucking horrible animals. They have one of the smallest brain to body ratios of any mammal, additionally - their brains are smooth. A brain is folded to increase the surface area for neurons. If you present a koala with leaves plucked from a branch, laid on a flat surface, the koala will not recognise it as food. They are too thick to adapt their feeding behaviour to cope with change. In a room full of potential food, they can literally starve to death. This is not the token of an animal that is winning at life. Speaking of stupidity and food, one of the likely reasons for their primitive brains is the fact that additionally to being poisonous, eucalyptus leaves (the only thing they eat) have almost no nutritional value. They can’t afford the extra energy to think, they sleep more than 80% of their fucking lives. When they are awake all they do is eat, shit and occasionally scream like fucking satan. Because eucalyptus leaves hold such little nutritional value, koalas have to ferment the leaves in their guts for days on end. Unlike their brains, they have the largest hind gut to body ratio of any mammal. Many herbivorous mammals have adaptations to cope with harsh plant life taking its toll on their teeth, rodents for instance have teeth that never stop growing, some animals only have teeth on their lower jaw, grinding plant matter on bony plates in the tops of their mouths, others have enlarged molars that distribute the wear and break down plant matter more efficiently… Koalas are no exception, when their teeth erode down to nothing, they resolve the situation by starving to death, because they’re fucking terrible animals. Being mammals, koalas raise their joeys on milk (admittedly, one of the lowest milk yields to body ratio… There’s a trend here). When the young joey needs to transition from rich, nourishing substances like milk, to eucalyptus (a plant that seems to be making it abundantly clear that it doesn’t want to be eaten), it finds it does not have the necessary gut flora to digest the leaves. To remedy this, the young joey begins nuzzling its mother’s anus until she leaks a little diarrhoea (actually fecal pap, slightly less digested), which he then proceeds to slurp on. This partially digested plant matter gives him just what he needs to start developing his digestive system. Of course, he may not even have needed to bother nuzzling his mother. She may have been suffering from incontinence. Why? Because koalas are riddled with chlamydia. In some areas the infection rate is 80% or higher. This statistic isn’t helped by the fact that one of the few other activities koalas will spend their precious energy on is rape. Despite being seasonal breeders, males seem to either not know or care, and will simply overpower a female regardless of whether she is ovulating. If she fights back, he may drag them both out of the tree, which brings us full circle back to the brain: Koalas have a higher than average quantity of cerebrospinal fluid in their brains. This is to protect their brains from injury… should they fall from a tree. An animal so thick it has its own little built in special ed helmet. I fucking hate them. > > Tldr; Koalas are stupid, leaky, STI riddled sex offenders. But, hey. They look cute. If you ignore the terrifying snake eyes and terrifying feet. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/11 "2020-04-15T04:05:53Z")
No, they’re not smart, so the question is probably better framed as ‘which is the least abjectly stupid marsupial’. The ones most commonly kept as pets from birth - wombats and wallabies - can be house-trained to some extent, but they are stubborn and don’t take instruction well. I’ve heard about someone who cared for a dasyurid, I think a[Tiger Quoll](https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/quolls?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2bHYqcbp6AIVjQ4rCh3KwAGMEAAYASAAEgJw6fD_BwE), which is a beautiful carnivore about the size of a small cat, that thought it was a great companion and smart enough to get into things and generally cause mayhem. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/12 "2020-04-15T04:58:23Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Not koalas. They have among the smallest mammalian brains, about 0.2% of their body mass. Brain ratio is a very weak correlation with intelligence, nevertheless they appear to be a species that does not require much intelligent action. This isn’t surprising, since they are the marsupial equivalent of sloths, and sloths are among the placentals with the lowest ratio of brain to body weight. It doesn’t take much brain power when you spend all your time surrounded by your food supply. But koala stupidity is due to their diet, not to the fact that they are marsupials. > [@Banksiaman](#): > > No, they’re not smart, so the question is probably better framed as ‘which is the least abjectly stupid marsupial’. The article I cited suggests that they’re no stupider than the average placental (excluding primates). > [@](#): > > The ones most commonly kept as pets from birth - wombats and wallabies - can be house-trained to some extent, but they are stubborn and don’t take instruction well. > > I’ve heard about someone who cared for a dasyurid, I think a[Tiger Quoll](https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/quolls?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2bHYqcbp6AIVjQ4rCh3KwAGMEAAYASAAEgJw6fD_BwE), which is a beautiful carnivore about the size of a small cat, that thought it was a great companion and smart enough to get into things and generally cause mayhem. That aligns with the article I cited, which found that diprotodonts, which include wallabies, wombats, and koalas, are among the least brainy marsupials, while dasyures are brainier than similar-sized placentals. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/13 "2020-04-15T05:25:59Z")
I’ve seen a fair number of 'possums in my burning barrel. They go in but can’t get out. I’ve seen a 'possum with a huge rattrap attached to its foot. Clunking around in the barn. I’ve ran over dozens because they freeze in the middle of the road. 'Possums around here are really dumb. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/14 "2020-04-15T12:45:57Z")
I was wondering about attempts to tame marsupials. People seem to like smarter animals to tame (but not always). So maybe which ones people have tamed _might_ indicate which ones are smarter. Some Googling right away lead me to [sugar gliders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_glider). Being able to glide means a pretty decent real-time thinking ability. They are quite social, which also means a more advanced brain. I’m going with sugar gliders. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/15 "2020-04-15T13:36:44Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > No, they’re not smart, so the question is probably better framed as ‘which is the least abjectly stupid marsupial’. > > The ones most commonly kept as pets from birth - wombats and wallabies - can be house-trained to some extent, but they are stubborn and don’t take instruction well. > > I’ve heard about someone who cared for a dasyurid, I think a[Tiger Quoll](https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/quolls?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2bHYqcbp6AIVjQ4rCh3KwAGMEAAYASAAEgJw6fD_BwE), which is a beautiful carnivore about the size of a small cat, that thought it was a great companion and smart enough to get into things and generally cause mayhem. Yeah, I figured that a predator would be at least a bit smarter than your average marsupial. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/16 "2020-04-15T13:38:20Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I was wondering about attempts to tame marsupials. [Wonder no more](https://youtube.com/user/MEpearlA/videos). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/17 "2020-04-15T13:47:13Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Wonder no more](https://youtube.com/user/MEpearlA/videos). This brings up questions about what the most intelligent mammal is. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/18 "2020-04-15T16:39:42Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I was wondering about attempts to tame marsupials. > > People seem to like smarter animals to tame (but not always). So maybe which ones people have tamed _might_ indicate which ones are smarter. > > Some Googling right away lead me to [sugar gliders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_glider). Being able to glide means a pretty decent real-time thinking ability. They are quite social, which also means a more advanced brain. > > I’m going with sugar gliders. Smart enough to be cute to be useful to humans. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Wonder no more](https://youtube.com/user/MEpearlA/videos). Oh, I had forgotten about this. [Here’s her glorious website](http://mepearl.com/). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/19 "2020-04-15T16:45:23Z")
[Quokkas!](https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrC4Sv5OZdeYBsAjRUPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=quokka&type=dhm_A06O7_set_bsf_H __alt__ ddc_srch_searchpulse_net&hspart=domaindev&hsimp=yhs-st_emea&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-domaindev-st_emea) They may not be the smartest, but they’re the cutest. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/20 "2020-04-15T16:51:02Z")
Well, there’s Christmas Kangaroo. Potentially NSFW but it was on Saturday Night Live. [Christmas in Australia - SNL - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvr0YNJwE0c) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774.md?page=2)