Following up on yesterday's post on marsupials, here's a photo of two Gray Kangaroo (Macropus sp.) at the Turtleback Zoo in New Jersey. The largest macropod to have ever lived, though, was the extinct Procoptodon goliath, a short-faced giant that would have stood about 10 feet tall when upright.
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Hi Brian,
I'm enjoying your blog. The kangaroos pictured are not reds but either eastern (M. giganteus) or western (M. fulginensis?) greys, a mature and an immature male (females have skinnier arms). Reds have thinner fur which is almost always orangey in males, different faces, especially the nose, and are generally a bit less meaty. I think it's kind of difficult to get a feel for how cool kangaroos really are in a zoo. They move really beautifully and the really big males are pretty (extremely) intimidating face-to-face. See if you can get your hands on the doco. 'Faces in the Mob' for some very impressive kangaroo footage. Keep up the good work, and thanks for putting me on to R. Sapolsky. Regards,
Geoff States.