Born in the Wild: Kangaroo Trivia Quiz

Answer: True

This is called embryonic diapause. Kangaroos are the only animals known to have this ability.

Answer: two years

Males reach sexual maturity at two years of age. Females mature a little earlier. Adverse conditions such as drought may delay sexual maturity.

Answer: thirty three days

Baby kangaroos are called joeys. When a joey is born, it climbs from the birth canal all the way through its mother's thick fur to the pouch on her abdomen, where it will stay for another 190 days. Let's keep in mind that this is a big journey for a baby that is blind, hairless and no bigger than a jellybean.

Answer: body size and colouration

Male red kangaroos are much larger than the females, standing roughly two metres tall, 2.8 metres long and weighing up to 90kg. Females stand between one and 1.5 metres tall, measure 1.9 metres long and weigh roughly 40kg.

There's also a difference in fur colour. Males are pale or brick red while females are bluish-grey.

Answer: boxing matches

Known as "boomers", fully-grown male kangaroos engage in frequent boxing matches with other males during the breeding season. With their long tails providing bodily support, they use their powerful legs to kick each other until one finally gives up the fight.

Answer: True

Believe it or not, female kangaroos have three vaginas and two uteruses. Two vaginas carry sperm to the uteruses while the third is the one used by the baby during birth.

Answer: females will adopt the joeys of other females

Alloparental care means a baby is cared for by someone else as well as its actual parents. Elephants, monkeys and wolves have also been seen engaging in this type of behaviour.

Answer: True

They have two adaptations that allow them to do this. First is their ability to delay the development and birth of a baby in the uterus. Secondly, they produce two different types of milk. So they can have three babies at the same time: one living permanently outside the pouch, one living in the pouch and an unborn baby in the uterus.

Answer: their penises are not attached to their bladders

Unlike some mammals, such as humans, the penis of a male kangaroo is not connected to the bladder. Therefore, the only time the male uses his penis is during mating.

Answer: drought

This is why kangaroos have such a unique reproduction cycle. In times of drought female kangaroos become infertile. They will not become fertile again until there is enough food and water to sustain a joey.