The kangaroo It has large ears that allow it to hear many sounds imperceptible to other species, and in addition to that, it can turn them to better hear in different directions. Like this they have other curiosities that will be mentioned in this article.
The kangaroo
To the family macropodidae the kangaroo belongs, in fact, there are several species of them, in general all those that are part of that family are called kangaroos, which are at least 50 different kinds of them, the kangaroo scientific name will specifically indicate each species. This family belongs to the order diprotodontia, of the class mammalia, phyla Chordata of the kingdom animals, one of the five kingdoms of living beings, that would be the kangaroo taxonomy.
Not only "kangaroos" are the species that are classified within this family, but also other individuals such as quokkas that are also marsupials, tree kangaroos that are very different from eastern gray kangaroos, for example. There are also the diprodont marsupials that do look a bit more similar, but they are smaller and do not stand as upright, finally, there are the wallabies or pademelons, which are a smaller species with a certain resemblance to rabbits.
kangaroo characteristics
To find out how are kangaroos Some general characteristics will be presented in the following list, which summarizes a little the kangaroo information:
- The males of this species mostly weigh about 90 kilograms, while the females can barely reach 30 kilos.
- An outstanding characteristic is that the kangaroo usually jumps very high, as well as running at a good speed, a calculation of it allows us to say that they are really fast, they can run at 60 or 70 kilometers per hour with a combination of jumps and runs. This is because their hind legs allow them this speed, they are large and quite long for that, but they cannot jump backwards easily due to their shape.
- They have a fairly long and thick tail due to the muscles that allow them to have a good balance and stand on their two hind legs, they have mostly nocturnal habits, as will be seen in the behavior section.
- Male kangaroos can reach the speed of 55 kilometers per hour, in less than 15 seconds over short distances, while female kangaroos are smaller and therefore weigh less, for this reason they can reach the speed of 65 kilometers per hour in less time than the males, in this sense, although the males are much larger they are much faster.
- When kangaroos stretch their legs and stand up, they can be up to 2 meters tall or even much more.
- Their life expectancy can be very short if they are in the wild, they can only reach eight years. While if they are captured and kept in captivity with care and attention, they can live for 20 years without a problem.
Behavior
The kangaroo is a really sociable animal, both with other species and with humans, since they stay in groups it is normal to see some fights for the defense of the territory or when two or more want to mate with a specific female, these fights would be between males mostly if females fight it would be to defend their young. However, when a specimen seems to be very "problematic" it is quickly removed from the pack.
Male kangaroos love to show off their physique to impress females and they tend to do the same too. Studies have confirmed that females are considered more captivated by male kangaroos that stand up and expose their body, in addition, it has been detailed that males try to "stick their chests out" and become quite tense when they realize that a female is checking them out .
Many think that kangaroos box, that is a very funny exaggeration, since it seems that it is the favorite sport of these animals since when they fight they do it in a similar way to the movements of a boxer. But they don't like to fight either, they do it to defend their territory, defend a female or to defend their young, but it's not strange that one animal fights with another since this happens all the time in nature.
Kangaroos do not get along with cars, they are confused by their lights and whenever they see one they jump on it, sometimes causing a lot of damage to the bumper, glass and other parts of the car. They take this attitude because they are only confused before those unknown figures, on some occasions they do it only to intimidate or scare what they think or recognize as a threat.
There are other habits that they have in addition to preferring to do their activities at night or when it is about to dawn, for example, to cope with the heat they lick their paws and then rub their chest, so they can control their body temperature a little. They also use their sense of smell to learn about other kangaroos, even the kangaroo can sniff the female's urine to identify whether or not she is in heat.
Food
The kangaroo has a diet typical of a herbivorous species, therefore, it does so from branches of a Tree, from plant roots, grass, flowers, bushes, also wild fruits and vegetables, they have also been seen eating insects and moss. All this when they are young and can regurgitate food, because when they are young they last several months being suckled. To see it what is a kangaroo and knowing this diet will be understood because they can live without water for a while.
Reproduction
It is possible to find a variety of forms of reproduction and also the time to do it, the red kangaroo, for example, waits for the most beneficial season so that its young can grow correctly, unlike them, gray kangaroos can have young throughout the year , especially during the summer. They can have a baby or even twins, but the latter is not very common.
As for the way of comparing, in general it can be said that it lasts a few hours or up to three days, during which time the male chases the female in heat and touches her tail with his legs. Wallabies, for example, wag their tails and make clicking noises to get the female's attention.
About birth, at birth kangaroos are not fully developed, so they stay in their mothers' bags until they have enough fur, finish developing their senses, acquire an adequate weight, this can last up to eight months and in that time they suck to acquire the necessary nutrients, even when they have left the bag they can last half a year near their mothers to suckle.
The gestation period of a female is from 21 to 38 days. As indicated, the kangaroos remain in the pouch for another 140 and sometimes up to 450 days. Inside the pouch, the little kangaroo is protected and can also suckle while they first develop their front limbs, since they must hold on to the mother's hair and thus be able to climb and gradually come out of the pouch.
Habitat
It is possible to find this species in Australia mainly where almost 85% of the species are mammals and also fish or insects, however, it is found throughout the continent called Oceania. The first described kangaroo was found there in 1770. However, there are several places where they live, for example, forests: like that of Tasmania or the eucalyptus forests that are further north.
Likewise, they live in jungles, but they are more from arid climates, where they live in greater numbers in arid and semi-arid regions. In fact, they can withstand even more than 50 degrees of temperature, the heat suits them well, although they can also withstand cold since in the deserts the climate varies markedly between cold and heat, so they can be in places with high or low temperatures. , but prefer to stay in Australia.