Kingdom: Animalia

                                                           Phylum: Chordata

                                                              Class: Mammalia

                                                                  Order: Diprotodontia

                                                                       Family: Macropodidae

                                                                           Genus: Macropus

                                                                                Species: rufus

Many of us have seen a kangaroo on television or possibly at the zoo, but most of us have not experienced them running in the wild. Perhaps that is because Macropus rufus, commonly known as the red kangaroo, ranges throughout the grass and scrublands of central Australia. Male M. rufus have red-brown fur fading to bluff below and on limbs, while the smaller females tend to have blue-grey fur with a brown tinge. Being the largest among the Macropus species, M. rufus contain long, pointed ears with a squared off muzzle. They also contain two muscular hind limbs, allowing them to jump a near 30 feet! Their long tail provides this species stability when standing upright, essentially creating a tripod effect.

M. rufus gain their capability to reproduce around the age of 18 months. This particular species is a marsupial animal that reproduces sexually. Once a female’s egg has been fertilized it takes about 33 days for the neonate to emerge into the mother’s pouch; this emergence takes only about 3 minutes. The M. rufus neonate is hairless, blind, and only mere centimeters long. Although its hind-legs are not quite yet developed, its forearms do the climbing through the mother’s thick abdominal fur. Once in the pouch the neonate begins feeding, at this time the mother’s reproduction cycle begins again. However this time when the egg is fertilized, the development is halted. After 235 days of the joey prodigiously growing, it will make its last trip out of the mother’s pouch. At this time the newly fertilized neonate will crawl into its mother’s pouch and begin feeding, starting the reproduction cycle all over again.<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="853" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fPIpJMnuvpA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="853" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4DZnx1mGyq4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Cronin, L. 2008. Cronin’s Key Guide Australian Mammals. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

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