KANGAROO:
A
marsupial animal found in Australia.
Typically large kangaroos have sheeplike heads,
large, movable ears, slender chests and heavy
hind parts.
They have short front legs with five unequal
digits and long, powerful hind legs with tendons
that act like springs for energy-efficient hopping.
A large kangaroo can cover a distance of 9m
in a single leap. A large kangaroo, although
ordinarily timid, is dangerous when at bay,
pummeling its attacker with its forepaws and
slashing with its powerful hind legs.
The long, muscular tail is used as a support
when the animal sits or walks and for balance
when it leaps.
The female kangaroo, have special abdominal
pouches. the newly born young, known as a joey,
finds its way into the pouchunassisted by the
mother. The pouch, in which the joey is kept
until it is 5-9 months old contains four mammary
glands, of which two at a time are functional.
The joey emerges permanently from -10 months
and then stays with its mother, continuing to
suckle by placing its head in her pouch, usually
until it is 12-18 months old.
