According to a new study, prehistoric kangaroos may have walked on two legs instead of hopping. This finding challenges the traditional perception of kangaroos using the elastic energy in their hind legs to hop. Researchers suggest that some extinct giant kangaroos, distantly related to modern-day kangaroos, likely walked on two legs, similar to humans, using one leg at a time. Others may have walked on all fours like most mammals. The study is based on a scientific review of kangaroo fossils and their relatives, such as wallabies, spanning 25 million years. The researchers also conducted new analyses of limb and ankle bones from these creatures.
Professor Christine Janis from the University of Bristol, who led the review, explains that despite the fascination with hopping kangaroos, they are probably just the result of fortuitous circumstances, as large hopping kangaroos are the exception in kangaroo evolution. The study specifically examined sthenurines, a relative of modern kangaroos that could weigh up to 230kg. The researchers found evidence suggesting that these animals walked on two legs around two million years ago.
The analysis also revealed that sthenurines had smaller heel bones compared to modern kangaroos. This could have limited their ability to counteract the force generated by ankle movements during hopping. On the other hand, another group of extinct kangaroo relatives, known as protemnodons or “giant wallabies,” are believed to have habitually walked on all fours due to their long necks and biomechanical characteristics that favored walking.
While early kangaroos may have still hopped occasionally, it is believed that the endurance-hopping seen in modern kangaroos evolved when the Australian climate became arid, and kangaroos needed to travel further to find food efficiently. The review of the study is available in the Australasian Journal of Palaeontology.
Additionally, a separate study suggests that kangaroos can communicate with humans through an “intense gaze” similar to domesticated animals like dogs. Researchers found that kangaroos gaze at humans when they are having trouble accessing food, as if imploring for help. These findings highlight the complex and nuanced behavior of these unique creatures.
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