Why kangaroos hop

Rabbits, grasshoppers and frogs share a special spring in their steps, hopping around like Mexican jumping beans. But Australia's native kangaroo out-hops them all. Race a cottontail rabbit against a red kangaroo, and the roo would leap ahead at a possible 35 mph 56 kph , more than twice the top speed of Peter Rabbit. In fact, these marsupials are the only large mammals to use this pogo stick-styled locomotion.

The first records of kangaroo sightings trace back to Dutch merchant Francisco Pelsaert, whose ship wrecked off the Australian coast in [source: Domico ]. By , the animal had become more well-known to Europeans. Legend has it that "kangaroo" came from the Aboriginal word for "I don't know," which natives used to describe the fascinating animal to Capt.

James Cook [source: Domico ]. People transported the first captive roos from their Australian homeland to London in , thus cementing their global popularity. The tall, furry, red and gray kangaroos we know the best are part of the family Macropodidae , or macropodids , so named for their large hind feet [source: Flannery].

These marsupials , along with possums and koalas carry their offspring in pouches. Today, more than 60 species of the macropodid family exist, including the large red and gray kangaroos down to the palm-sized musky rat-kangaroo.

Fossil evidence dating back 25 million years has revealed that kangaroo ancestors did not hop [source: The Daily Telegraph ]. At that time, rainforests covered most of Australia, and the predecessors most likely fed from fruits and leaves and could climb trees [source: The Daily Telegraph ].

One existing species, the tree kangaroo, still inhabits parts of the rainforests in Papua New Guinea. As the continent's climate heated up, the rainforests gave way to dry, grassy plains, guiding the roos to their current terrestrial existence.

And what better way to cruise the plains than by leaps and bounds? We'll get down to the whys and hows of kangaroo hopping next. Take a close look at a kangaroo's hind foot and you'll notice that its toes aren't symmetrical like ours. Instead, kangaroos have an enlarged fourth toe on each foot. Starting from the inside of the foot, a kangaroo's first toe is tiny and may not even be present [source: Myers ].

The second and third toes are small and appear fused together, though there are separate nails. Things get exciting when we reach the fourth toe since it's at the center of the hopping action. Why do kangaroos have strong hind legs? Strong tendons act like tightly wound springs that store and release energy. On touching down, the spring is compressed, storing energy for the next hop. Deepest Freshwater Lake in the World. Difference Between Cyclone, Hurricane and Typhoon.

Top 10 Birds Of Prey. Leave A Reply Cancel Reply. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Time limit is exhausted. Why do Kangaroos Hop Instead of Walk. You might also like More from author. The story begins about 30 million years ago, when the ancestor of the kangaroo — a creature a lot like a small possum — climbed down from the treetops to move around on the forest floor.

Its feet and ankles, previously suited to climbing, stiffened up to handle its new terrain. As these tendons strain and contract, they generate most of the energy needed for each hop.

This is very different to the way humans jump, which uses a lot of muscular effort.