• Question: How do a kangaroo reproduce?

    Asked by 676bm1925 to Peter, Jonathan, Grace, Doris, David on 7 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Grace Kago

      Grace Kago answered on 7 Jun 2019:


      I’m not sure, but I found a source that says the following:
      “The egg which is still enclosed in the vestiges of a shell a few microns thick and has only a small quantity of yolk within it, and descends from the ovary into the uterus. There, lying free, it is fertilised and begins its development. If this is the first time that the female has mated, the fertilized egg does not stay there long. In the case of the red kangaroo it is only thirty three days before the neonate emerges. Usually only one is born at a time. It is a blind, hairless an only a few centimetres long; its hind legs are mere buds, but its forelegs are better developed and with these it hauls its way through the thick fur on its mother’s abdomen. The neonate’s journey to the pouch takes about three minutes. Once there, it fastens on to one of four teats and starts to feed. Almost immediately, the mother’s sexual cycle starts again. ”

      Source: http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/biodiversity/loe/page_193.htm

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