11 Eastern Grey Kangaroo at Lyons, ACT
Identification history
| Macropus giganteus | 30 Aug 2024 | DonFletcher | ||
| Macropus giganteus | 30 Aug 2024 | BelindaWilson | ||
| Macropus giganteus | 30 Aug 2024 | CarbonAI | ||
| Macropus giganteus | 30 Aug 2024 | jmcleod |
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User's notes
Twins?! (or, I suppose, possibly a mutant two-headed joey...)
They looked about the same size.
Poor mum...
3 comments
DonFletcher
wrote:
30 Aug 2024
@BelindaWilson I think we must have confirmed at the same instant!
@jmcleod twins happen in EGKS about once in a thousand females. Researchers in ACT gov have seen them at all ages. It is unclear how many are genuine twins in the sense we humans would think of twins. Many are from a failure of pregnancy to prevent one additional ovulation so the two young differ in age by the length of the oestrus cycle. And there is another phenomenon in marsupials (so far only recorded in EGKS) which could produce the appearance of twins. Mothers swop young. A surprising proportion of pouch young are not the offspring of the pouch owner, not even closely related. So hypothetically, a pair of older twins could arise as a result of that type of event, with the two taking turns to suckle from the same teat. That is purely speculative. There has been too little observation of the right type, of these uncommon events, to know whether it happens in practice.
@jmcleod twins happen in EGKS about once in a thousand females. Researchers in ACT gov have seen them at all ages. It is unclear how many are genuine twins in the sense we humans would think of twins. Many are from a failure of pregnancy to prevent one additional ovulation so the two young differ in age by the length of the oestrus cycle. And there is another phenomenon in marsupials (so far only recorded in EGKS) which could produce the appearance of twins. Mothers swop young. A surprising proportion of pouch young are not the offspring of the pouch owner, not even closely related. So hypothetically, a pair of older twins could arise as a result of that type of event, with the two taking turns to suckle from the same teat. That is purely speculative. There has been too little observation of the right type, of these uncommon events, to know whether it happens in practice.
jmcleod
wrote:
30 Aug 2024
@DonFletcher thanks for the info. Pretty sure it's the first time I've seen two joeys in one pouch, so I assumed it wasn't common. you're welcome to. Not sure if NatureMapr shrinks photos - if so, I can provide the original (or a few others, but that's the clearest). Can be credited to J McLeod or Jenny McLeod.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.068414-35.338270
- Altitude 689.0m
- Maps Oakey Hill
- Places Lyons, ACT
Sighting information
- 16 - 100 Abundance
- 30 Aug 2024 07:07 AM Recorded on
- jmcleod Recorded by
-
Collections
Featured jmcleod Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Macropus giganteus Kangaroos & Wallabies Mammals
Additional information
- Female Gender
- Dependent young Breeding behaviour
- Alive / healthy Animal health
Species information
- Macropus giganteus Scientific name
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1357m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes