КЕНГУРУ

a Kangaroo

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Краткое описание кенгуру

Look at the picture. You can see a kangaroo. It has big white rotating ears. Its fur is light-brown. It has 2 eyes and a nose. Its arms are short. It has sharp claws on them. Its legs are big because kangaroos don’t walk, they jump. It also has a massive tail that it uses for balance. It can lean on it as well. There is a large pouch on its belly with a baby kangaroo in it. We can see its head sticking out of it. These mother and baby kangaroo look cute.

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15 Интересных фактов о кенгуру

Kangaroos are marsupials from Australia and belong to the family Macropodidae (“big foot”). The best-known species are the red kangaroo, eastern grey, and western grey. Adult male red kangaroos can reach a body height of about 2 m and a weight up to 90 kg. Their powerful hind legs and elastic tendons let them hop efficiently at speeds around 60–70 km/hr; a single leap may cover 8–9 m. The long tail works as a third leg for a stable “tripod” when the animal leans or kicks. Front paws are small and dexterous; the second and third toes are partly fused (syndactyly) for grooming. Kangaroos are strict herbivores that graze grasses and shrubs; they are foregut fermenters that save water in arid lands. Social groups are called a mob; size can be from 5 to over 50 animals depending on food and season. Males often “box” by balancing on the tail and kicking with their feet during contests. The female’s gestation is short — about 33 days; the tiny joey crawls to the pouch and stays there roughly 8 months. Females can pause embryo development (embryonic diapause) so births match good conditions. There are 4 teats in the pouch, and milk composition changes as the joey grows. Kangaroos are good swimmers and may head to water to escape danger. They cannot move their hind legs independently at slow speeds, so they use a tail-assisted “crawl” when not hopping. Average wild lifespan is about 6–8 years; in captivity some reach over 20 years.

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