---
title: "What the sources say about the Red Kangaroo | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "63 claims from the Red Kangaroo profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Red Kangaroo (*Osphranter rufus*)

> 63 claims from the Red Kangaroo profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Red Kangaroo](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/red-kangaroo/)

## Macropus rufus (red kangaroo). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Macropus_rufus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Australia's biggest marsupial | Macropus rufus is the largest living marsupial. |
| on powerful hind legs | Red kangaroo hind legs are powerful (note: reviewer (2026-09): replaces "spring-loaded legs", which stated the tendon hypothesis as fact (kram-dawson-1998 says only that the effect "has been attributed to" tendons).) |
| balanced by a tail it can also rest on | The tail is strong enough to support the kangaroo's body weight, acts as a balance when jumping, and is used, with the two legs, to form a tripod for resting. (note: final review (2026-09): "tripod tail for balance" merged the tail's two jobs; the tripod is for resting, the balance is for jumping.) |
| whose powerful hind legs | Red kangaroo hind legs are powerful (note: vibe.reason; "a pounding, relentless beat" describes the song and states nothing about the animal.) |
| Arid and semi-arid plains, deserts, and scrublands across central Australia | Macropus rufus occurs over most of the dry, inland, central part of Australia. This expansive area includes scrubland, shrubland, grassland, and desert habitats. (note: "semi-arid" also matches australian-museum-red-kangaroo: "found throughout the semi-arid and arid regions of mainland Australia." "plains": adw "They prefer to forage in open plains habitats".) |
| succulent plants | These herbivores can go without water for long periods of time by consuming moisture-filled succulent plants. |
| Powerful hind legs and a balancing tail | Red kangaroo hind legs are powerful and the tail acts to balance the body in a bipedal hop as their legs propel them forwards. |
| A red kangaroo's powerful hind legs drive it forward in a bipedal hop, while its tail balances the body. | Red kangaroo hind legs are powerful and the tail acts to balance the body in a bipedal hop as their legs propel them forwards. |
| It also has an odd five-legged gait, balancing on its forelimbs and tail while both back legs swing forward together. | Red kangaroos also use their tail an a kind of 5-"legged" gait, where the forelimbs and tail balance the animal as the two rear legs are moved forward simultaneously. (note: source text has a typo ("an a kind"); "five" is its "5". Reviewer (2026-09): "At slower speeds it switches to" cut, since no source ties the gait to speed.) |
| A Built-In Third Leg | The tail is strong enough to support the kangaroo's body weight, acts as a balance when jumping, and is used, with the two legs, to form a tripod for resting. (note: label naming the blockquote, not itself a factual claim; the fact it names is claimed below.) |
| A Built-In Third Leg The tail is strong enough to support the kangaroo's own body weight. | The tail is strong enough to support the kangaroo's body weight, acts as a balance when jumping, and is used, with the two legs, to form a tripod for resting. |
| It works as a balance beam mid-jump, and together with the two legs it forms a tripod the kangaroo rests on. | The tail is strong enough to support the kangaroo's body weight, acts as a balance when jumping, and is used, with the two legs, to form a tripod for resting. |
| The red kangaroo is the largest living marsupial. | Macropus rufus is the largest living marsupial. |
| Males usually wear reddish-brown fur and females blue-gray, though in some areas those colors swap | Coat color is usually reddish brown in males and bluish gray in females, although these colors are reversed in some areas, with females being reddish and males blue-gray. |
| dry, inland heart of Australia | Macropus rufus occurs over most of the dry, inland, central part of Australia. |
| rainfall averages less than 500 millimeters a year | areas where rainfall averages less than 500 millimeters (note: "a year" names the unit an average rainfall figure is given in.) |
| They prefer to feed on open plains | They prefer to forage in open plains habitats with neither trees nor bushes |
| seldom found anywhere without scattered trees for shade and shelter | seldom found in regions without shade and shelter from scattered trees |
| Red kangaroos are exclusively plant-eaters | Red kangaroos are exclusively plant-eaters |
| They can go without drinking for long stretches by drawing moisture from succulent plants instead. | These herbivores can go without water for long periods of time by consuming moisture-filled succulent plants. |
| small groups called mobs, made up mostly of females and their young with one or more males; groups average around 10 animals | Red kangaroos occur in small groups, averaging 10, called "mobs." These groups are made up mainly of females and their offspring, with one or several males. |
| competition for mates sometimes turns into a boxing match, where they hit at each other with their forepaws and kick with their feet | This competition sometimes leads to "boxing" matches, where males hit at each other with their forepaws and kick with their feet. |
| A grown red kangaroo's size reduces the predation risk it faces | Their large size reduces the predation risks faced by red kangaroos. |
| it can fight back with powerful kicks from its clawed feet | red kangaroos can use their robust legs and clawed feet to defend themselves from attackers with kicks and blows |
| Dingoes may prey on red kangaroos | They may be preyed on by dingos (note: reviewer (2026-09): "They" in the source is red kangaroos generally; the page said "adults".) |
| large raptors may take very young joeys just out of the pouch | very young joeys, just out of the pouch, may be taken by large raptors |
| Humans have long hunted kangaroos for meat and hides | Humans have historically hunted kangaroos for their meat and hides (note: final review (2026-09): "still the main source of predation" cut, a present-tense rank resting only on the undated ADW page.) |
| Every Australian state regulates that hunting | All Australian states regulate the hunting of kangaroos. |
| Males compete for access to females and try to drive off rivals. | Males will try to monopolize access to several females and will actively drive away other males. |
| competition sometimes turns into a boxing match, where the males hit at each other with their forepaws and kick with their feet. | This competition sometimes leads to "boxing" matches, where males hit at each other with their forepaws and kick with their feet. |
| averaging just 2.5 centimeters long and 0.75 grams | Red kangaroo joeys are tiny when born, averaging only 2.5 centimeters long and 0.75 grams. |
| Apart from a well-developed tongue, jaw muscles, nostrils, forelimbs and digits, its outer features are still embryonic. | They are born with well-developed tongues, jaw muscles, nostrils, forelimbs, and digits. Otherwise their external features are embryonic. |
| It makes its own way from the birth canal into its mother's pouch, where it attaches itself to a nipple. | Red kangaroo young are tiny when born and make their own way from the birth canal to the pouch and a nipple (note: reviewer (2026-09): "for about 70 days" cut, a duration resting only on the ADW page; australian-museum-red-kangaroo gives no attachment period.) |

## Red Kangaroo. Australian Museum.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/red-kangaroo/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Grasses, forbs, chenopod shrubs like saltbush, and succulent plants | Red Kangaroos are herbivores, primarily grazing on grasses but also eat forbs and leaves of shrubs. (note: the chenopod-shrub and saltbush parts are sourced to burden-2021 below, and "succulent plants" to the adw water quote below.) |
| A male's body can reach 1.4 meters long | Males – up to 1.4m (note: final review (2026-09): ADW's 1,300 to 1,600 mm dropped; the current Australian Museum page disagrees, so the page follows it.) |
| plus a tail of up to 1 meter | a body length of up to 1.4m and tail up to 1m |
| a female's body up to 1.1 meters | Females – up to 1.1m |
| Adult males can weigh up to 92 kg | can weigh up to 92kg (note: gap-hunter (2026-09): corroborated by a second current source, taronga-red-kangaroo ('Male Red Kangaroos can weigh from 65-92kg').) |
| females up to 39 kg | the females can weigh up to 39kg |
| grazing mainly on grasses but also eating forbs and the leaves of shrubs | Red Kangaroos are herbivores, primarily grazing on grasses but also eat forbs and leaves of shrubs. (note: reviewer (2026-09): replaces "feasting mostly on green grasses and broad-leaved herbs"; adw gives only a "preferred diet", not a "mostly".) |
| Red kangaroos can survive when water is scarce. | The Red Kangaroo has the ability to survive when water is scarce. |
| The plants and leaves they eat supply the water they need as well as their nutrition. | The herbage and foliage that the Kangaroo eats provides them with their water needs as well as their nutritional requirements. |
| Populations can still suffer in a drought, as their food supplies shrink. | In times of drought, Red Kangaroo populations can suffer as their food supplies diminish. |

## Dawson et al. (2021). The burden of size and growth for the juveniles of large mammalian herbivores: Structural and functional constraints in the feeding biology of juveniles relative to adults in red kangaroos, Osphranter rufus. Ecology and Evolution.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7750

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| chenopod shrubs like saltbush | Adult diets had moved to chenopod shrubs, 50 ± 10.9%, with grass declining to 38 ± 11.0%. |
| chenopod shrubs like saltbush | flat‐leaved chenopod shrubs, genera Atriplex and Rhagodia (salt bushes) (note: reviewer (2026-09): the study site's own list names saltbush as one of the chenopod shrubs, so the word is the source's.) |
| in moderate seasons | general growth patterns under moderate seasonal conditions (note: reviewer (2026-09): the plateau is the paper's statement of the general pattern under moderate conditions, citing Dawson 2012, not a finding of its own field sample, so "a 2021 field study of wild females found" was cut and the condition put back.) |
| a female's growth levels off at 28 to 30 kg by 6 to 8 years old | Under such conditions, females may be sexually mature before they reach a BM of 20 kg, at around 3 years, with growth plateauing at 28–30 kg by 6–8 years (note: the quote's "may" governs sexual maturity before 20 kg, which the page does not claim; the plateau is stated flatly.) |
| Grass made up around 90% of one studied population's diet in a good season | In the good season, grasses, mostly green, dominated the diets (~90%) of all O. rufus (note: the study sampled one good season and one dry one, so "a good season", not "good seasons".) |
| in the dry spell that followed, adult females switched to a diet of about half chenopod shrubs | In the subsequent dry conditions, grasses were still selected from the available biomass. However, while they provided most of the juvenile diet (70%), adult female intakes moved to 50% chenopod shrubs (note: "about half" is the quote's 50%.) |

## Chu, Cornwell & Letnic (2021). Mistletoes Facilitate a Desert Herbivore by Improving the Quality of Shade. Ecosystems.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00590-9

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a 2021 study in the Strzelecki Desert found kangaroos were about three times more likely to shelter under mulga trees carrying mistletoe than under trees stripped of it | in Australia’s Strzelecki Desert. We experimentally removed the pale-leaved mistletoe (Amyema maidenii) from mulga trees (Acacia aneura) ... kangaroos were approximately three times more likely to shelter beneath trees where mistletoe was present (control) compared to where mistletoes had been removed (treatment) (note: "2021" is the paper's publication year (UNSW record: 2021-01-29). Reviewer (2026-09): study site and the comparison put back; "because the extra canopy" cut, since the abstract never mentions canopy.) |
| and that the shade under the mistletoe trees was cooler by day | average hourly temperature during the daytime and daily maximum temperature were cooler |

## Ellis et al. (2016). Macropus rufus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T40567A21953534.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-2.rlts.t40567a21953534.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | Least Concern (LC), assessed 2015 (note: hand check expected: verify:quotes cannot resolve the category through GBIF under the assessment's old-binomial title, per the source pack. Also stated directly by adw-red-kangaroo: "IUCN Red List Least Concern".) |
| the IUCN Red List rates the red kangaroo Least Concern | Least Concern (LC), assessed 2015 (note: hand check expected, see Least Concern claim above; also stated by adw-red-kangaroo: "IUCN Red List Least Concern".) |

## Red Kangaroo. Taronga Conservation Society Australia.

https://taronga.org.au/animals/red-kangaroo

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| hopping at 64 km/h | They're fast! They can hop at 64km per hour. (note: reviewer (2026-09): moved from adw-red-kangaroo, whose 64 kph sentence is about "Large kangaroos" generally; Taronga states it of the red kangaroo.) |
| can hop it along at 64 km/h | They're fast! They can hop at 64km per hour. |
| carry it at up to 64 km/h | They're fast! They can hop at 64km per hour. |
| At full stretch it can hop at 64 km/h (about 40 mph). | They're fast! They can hop at 64km per hour. (note: 40 mph is a unit conversion of 64 km/h (39.8 mph). Moved from adw-red-kangaroo, whose sentence is about "Large kangaroos".) |
| Red kangaroos can live up to 20 years in the wild, and up to 23 years in care. | Red Kangaroos can live up to 20 yrs in the wild and 23 yrs in care. |
| A red kangaroo can hop at 64 km/h (about 40 mph). | They're fast! They can hop at 64km per hour. (note: 40 mph is a unit conversion of 64 km/h (39.8 mph).) |

## Kram & Dawson (1998). Energetics and biomechanics of locomotion by red kangaroos (Macropus rufus). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0491(98)00022-4

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| its energy use stays nearly the same as it hops faster on level ground | As red kangaroos hop faster over level ground, their rate of oxygen consumption (indicating metabolic energy consumption) remains nearly the same. |
| As it hops faster on level ground, its energy use stays nearly the same. | As red kangaroos hop faster over level ground, their rate of oxygen consumption (indicating metabolic energy consumption) remains nearly the same. |
| Scientists have credited that to long, stretchy tendons in its legs that store elastic energy and give it back. | This phenomenon has been attributed to exceptional elastic energy storage and recovery via long compliant tendons in the legs. (note: reviewer (2026-09): "has been attributed to" kept as an attribution; "running down the ankles", "stretch on landing and snap back on takeoff" and "from one hop ... on the next" cut as detail the abstract never gives.) |
| A 1998 study tested a rival explanation, exceptionally efficient muscles, and found their efficiency was normal: about 30%. | Alternatively, red kangaroos may have exceptionally efficient muscles. To estimate efficiency, we measured the metabolic cost of uphill hopping ... However, efficiency values were normal, approximately 30%. (note: 1998 is the paper's publication year (reference entry). The quote's "may" belongs to the hypothesis being tested, which the sentence presents as a hypothesis.) |