NL·0524Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Osphranter rufus
- Family
- Macropodidae
- Native to
- Arid and semi-arid mainland Australia
- Habitat
- Desert, Arid shrubland, Grassland
Red kangaroo
Osphranter rufus
Also calledMarlu (Western Desert languages) · Gangurru, source of 'kangaroo' (Guugu Yimithirr) · Dàishǔ 袋鼠 (Chinese) · Canguro (Spanish)
The largest living marsupial, a long-legged hopper of Australia's dry interior. Hopping is so efficient at speed that a kangaroo uses little more energy going faster.
The red kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, except for the more fertile areas, such as southern Western Australia, the eastern and southeastern coasts, and the rainforests along the northern coast. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iBounds at up to ~60 km/h and covers 8 m or more in a single leap
- iiStores and returns energy in its elastic leg tendons like a spring
- iiiUses its muscular tail as a fifth leg when moving slowly
- ivCan pause the development of an embryo (embryonic diapause) until conditions improve
- vCan have an embryo, a joey in the pouch and a joey at foot at the same time, producing two kinds of milk from different teats
In the field
Field marks
- aLargest kangaroo
- bMales usually red-brown, females blue-grey
- cBlack and white marks on the muzzle
- dPale underparts
- Not to be confused with
- Eastern and western grey kangaroos lack the black and white muzzle marks and have dark tail tips. Large males can kick and box. Keep a respectful distance.
- Where to see it
- Sturt National Park (NSW), Flinders Ranges (SA) and Mutawintji National Park
- When
- Resident; active at dawn and dusk
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Herbivore: grasses and forbs; can go long periods without drinking
- Habitat
- Open plains, desert and shrubland with scattered shade trees
- Size
- Males up to ~85 kg and ~1.6 m long plus tail; females ~35 kg
- Lifespan
- Up to ~20 years; often less in the wild
Rival males 'box', grappling with forearms and kicking with their hind feet while balanced on their tails. Kangaroos lick their forearms to cool off.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Arid and semi-arid mainland Australia
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Osphranter rufus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Joseph Banks and James Cook recorded the word 'kangaroo' from Guugu Yimithirr speakers at the Endeavour River in 1770 (their animal was a grey kangaroo). The red kangaroo appears on Australia's coat of arms.
Curiosity
Females are often blue-grey while males are red, which is why females are nicknamed 'blue fliers'.
Kinship
Fact-checked: 2 corrections made to this sheet. Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 1453439.