Kangaroo is the name of any marsupial of the family Macropodidae found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea.
Kangaroos are plant-eaters and most live in groups. They are adapted to hopping, the vast majority of species having very large back legs and feet compared with the small forelimbs. The larger types can jump nine metres in a single bound. Most are nocturnal. Species vary from small rat kangaroos, only 30 centimetres long, through the medium-sized wallabies, to the large red and great grey kangaroos, which are the largest living marsupials. These may be 1.8 metres long with 1.1 metres tails. In New Guinea and North Queensland, tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus) occur. These have comparatively short hind limbs. The great grey kangaroo Macropus giganteus produces a single young (called a 'Joey') about two centimetres long after a very short gestation, usually in early summer. At birth the young kangaroo is too young even to suck. It remains in its mother's pouch, attached to a nipple which squirts milk into its mouth at intervals. It stays in the pouch, with excursions as it matures, for about 280 days. Research Kangaroo
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Abbreviations
Nature
Research Kangaroo
