the biggest, still today living marsupials is the giant-kangaroos. its head-torso-length amounts to 80-160 cm. Highly raised, they reach a vertex-height of over 2 m. Female animals can be one third until one quarter smaller than male. The ears are big and independently of each other movable. This lets suspected that the hearing in the life of these animals plays an important role. The strongly developed tail is thickened at its root and tapers to the top to. it serves as balance and tax-organ in sitting and with slow locomotion. it can become long until 110 cm.
Locomotion Giant-kangaroos are inhabitants of the wide levels, the light forests and the brushland-ships. With slow movement, they lean on the front-legs and press the muscular tail against the underground between the hind legs simultaneously. The body now is supported at 3 points, and the hind legs can swing to the front. they land beside the front-paws, and the movement-course can begin again. To the faster locomotion, they jump on the hind legs. its jumps then carry it 1-2 m wide. At the escape, its mighty hind legs hurl it wide and 3,3 m high until 13,5 m. they gain speeds of more than 80 km per hour on that occasion at short notice.
Also at the fight, the tail plays an important role. If the animals straighten up highly on the hind legs in order to wrestle together, they support themselves with the tail to the back. With the steps, that they execute with the hind legs against the body of the opponent, it also serves as "third foot."
Nutrition Giant-kangaroos are pure herbivores. they live mainly from grass, herbs, foliage and bark. The sheep-breeders regard it as food-competitors of the sheep and pursue it with all means. At exact examinations, one could place however out that they prefer other plant-types in general. Only in unfavorable years, if the animals are forced to switch to other food-plants, the competition can occur.
Reproduction The sexually mature happens approximately with the giant-kangaroos with 28-30 months. After a Tragzeit of 33 days, a young was usually born. It weighs only approximately 0,8 grams in the birth. Twins are very rare. The females are mated with again few days after the birth. In an uterus, another young then grows up until the size of 100 cells. In this condition, the development stops at first. It represents so to speak a "reserve-embryo" so. More than 60 percent of the females examined in the homestead had such an embryo. its development rests, until leaves the bag the older kid after 190-200 days of bag-time. Soon, it was born the next kid after it and the mother again mates with. Now, it has a big young, who still sucks, in the bag a tiny one and a low developed embryo in its uterus. Dies the bag-kid, so the embryo develops and replaces this in short time. First this observation could answer the long unsolved question why individually held females brought to the world boy.
Types Giant-kangaroos are widespread over almost whole Australia with 6 types.
This lives red in the wide levels of the dry Australian grassland-ships giant-kangaroo (Macropus [Osphranter] rufus) in small groups. Adult males gain a weight of up to 70 kg; Females rarely become heavier than 27 kg. The males get its notably red coloring through the powder-y secretions of skin-glands at throat and breast, that distribute it over the whole body with the front-paws, during the reproductive-time. Red giant-kangaroos still are frequent.
The horrors giant-kangaroos are somewhat smaller than the red. they live into the light eucalyptus, and hard-foliage-forests east, and Südaustraliens, with an eastern type (Macropus [Macropus] giganteus) and a western type (Macropus [Macropus] fuliginosus). Head and upper side are dun colored until reddish-gray; the underside usually is somewhat lighter. Is also gray giant-kangaroos frequent in Australia.
Also the 3 types of the mountain-kangaroos belong to the giant-kangaroos.
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