| Kangaroo is a group of marsupial mammal kangaroo families. Members of
this group are found in Australia, New Guinea and nearest islands.
Features:
Presence of marsupial bones (special pelvis bones are developed both
in male and female kangaroos). Body temperature ranges from 34 to
36° Celsius. Kangaroos give birth to Joey and feed them with milk. Kangaroos
have a pouch called a marsupial in which joeys complete postnatal
development and the pouch has an opening towards head similar to the
pocket of an apron.
Structure of lower jaw is peculiar with lower ends bent inwards. Tusks
are absent or underdeveloped and the root teeth are present with
blunted tubercles.
As with all marsupials, the young are born at a very early stage of
development - after a gestation of 31 - 36 days. At this stage, only
the forelimbs are somewhat developed, to allow the newborn to climb to
the pouch and attach to a teat. Mother kangaroo sits in a specific
position with tail between the legs and the Joey (size less than a
minimus) crawls into the pouch and finds a teat in pouch for milk
feeding.
Immune system of the new born Joey is not fully developed and hence
milk of mother kangaroo has strong antibacterial action.
Pouch, contrary to the widespread fallacy, is absent in male kangaroos
and is present only in female kangaroos.
Description:
Kangaroos have powerful hind legs, huge tail, slender brachium, tiny
arms, identical to human hands, forepaws, with which the kangaroo digs
strawberries and roots. Kangaroo transfers entire weight of the body
onto tail and then both the hind legs, by liberating with a single
motion up and down, the kangaroos cause severe injuries to the
opponent. Pushing away with powerful hind legs, the kangaroos can hop
up to 12 meters long and 3 meters high.
|
Here's some news from China. A kangaroo in a zoo in Shaanxi Province will have a set of dentures made for her, to help chew food. Zoo keepers have realized the need for kangaroo dentures after they noticed that she lost most of her molar teeth and asked Shaanxi dental experts to make false teeth for the animal.
