Giant kangaroos, some weighing up to 250 kg, once roamed Australia, and recent research sheds light on their movement abilities. For a long time, people wondered if these massive creatures could hop like their modern-day relatives. A study led by Dr. Megan Jones at the University of Manchester explored this question using fossils of giant kangaroos instead of just looking at present-day species.
Modern kangaroos use their strong Achilles tendon to jump efficiently. But Dr. Jones pointed out that if a kangaroo gets too large without any changes in its anatomy, that tendon could snap. The study investigated fossils from giant species, such as the sthenurine, which existed between 13,000 and 30,000 years ago. This group included kangaroos with shorter noses and a browsing diet.
Interestingly, the team examined the strength of both the Achilles tendon and a key bone in the hind leg, called the fourth metatarsal. They found that these giant kangaroos had strong enough bones to support hopping. According to Dr. Jones, while some researchers thought thicker tendons could make hopping less feasible, similar animals today, like kangaroo rats, show that jumping is still an effective way to move, even with thicker tendons.
Dr. Jones suggested that these giant kangaroos might have hopped less frequently or over shorter distances compared to modern kangaroos. She mentioned that they could have also moved more slowly to reduce stress on their bodies. This opens up new ideas about how these animals navigated their environments.
Dr. Gilbert Price, a palaeontologist from the University of Queensland, praised the study for being based on the giants themselves. He noted that the findings indicate giant kangaroos adapted their body structures to make hopping possible, albeit less efficiently than the kangaroos we see today. Importantly, the study didn’t claim that these great beasts hopped around as much as modern kangaroos. It simply showed that hopping was an option for them.
Understanding the biology of these kangaroos can help scientists learn more about why they became extinct. It highlights how their movement and lifestyle may have contributed to their decline. Recent surveys indicate that there’s growing public interest in prehistoric animals, emphasizing the need for more studies on how they lived and interacted with their environment.
For further insights, you can read more about how these fascinating creatures might have behaved in their habitats here.
