The Kangaroo that Went Back to the Trees
Saturday 15 September 2018
The striking difference between the tree-kangaroo and its land-based cousin is, of course, the choice of habitat. All kangaroos are thought to have arboreal ancestors which looked a little like today’s Australian possums. Macropods diverged from this line when they came down from the trees and on to the ground, evolving bodies that were adapted for speedy movement.
About five million years ago these marsupials decided against life on the ground. Quite why they went back to live in amongst the leaves is not known but educated guesses can be made. Perhaps the best guess is that as the species spread they encountered land where there was very little open ground so the trees made a sensible new home.
Certainly the modern day tree-kangaroo is very unsteady on its feet on the ground. They cannot attain speeds of more than walking pace and seem very sluggish and ungainly in their movements. Even the famous kangaroo hop has been reduced to an awkward skip.
Leaping is something else entirely and where they really come in to their own with staggering distances being measured. They can jump from one tree to another to a distance of 9 meters (30 feet). They have also been seen jumping from the heights of trees to the ground, plummeting gracefully through distances of up to 18 meters (almost sixty feet).
Tree-kangaroos do not have a great deal to do with each other unless it is the mating season. Once mating has occurred a joey will make its way to the mother’s pouch where it will remain for up to a year. Even after that it will continue to feed on its mother’s milk for several months.
This remarkable family of species is yet another reminder of the diversity of life on this ark in space.
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