Australia's Eastern Gray Kangaroo Natural History Illustrations

Summary: Eastern gray kangaroo natural history illustrations present kangaroos of eastern Australia's forest, grassy woodland and open grassland habitat niches.

eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) drawn June 1, 1790, by English fauna and flora illustrator Frederick Polydore Nodder (fl. ca. 1770-ca. 1800); George Shaw and F.P. Nodder's  The Naturalist's Miscellany, vol. I (1790), text to Plate 33: Public Domain via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Eastern gray kangaroo natural history illustrations assure access to colors, shapes and sizes that allow admiration of the behavioral, biogeographical and bodily differences between similar eastern and western gray kangaroos in Australia.

Eastern gray kangaroo natural history illustrations broach habitat niches, life cycles and physical appearances of eastern gray or grey, forester and great gray or grey kangaroos. The Macropodidae kangaroo, pademelon, quokka, tree-kangaroo, wallaby and wallaroo family member carries the name forester kangaroo in Tasmania 24 kilometers (149.13 miles) south of mainland Australia. The scientific name Macropus giganteus ("big-footed, gigantic [kangaroo]") defends scientific descriptions in 1790 by George Kearsley Shaw (Dec. 10, 1751-July 22, 1813) of Bierton, Buckinghamshire, England.

Eastern gray kangaroo natural history illustrations sometimes embrace eastern grays grazing grasses and leaves in Fraser Island, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.

Forester, Tasmanian eastern gray and Tasmanian eastern grey kangaroos fit into eastern gray kangaroo life cycles as the subspecies Macropus giganteus tasmaniensis ("big-footed, gigantic Tasmanian [kangaroo]").

December through February generate eastern gray kangaroo breeding seasons in seasonal calendars of autumnal March through May, wintry June through August and vernal September through November. Summertime artificial and natural watering holes, croplands, grasslands, heathlands, mallee scrublands, sclerophyll forests, shrublands and woodlands have the freshest waters and the greenest grasses and leaves. Vegetation and water impel sexually mature 17- to 28-month-old females and 20- to 25-month-old males toward summertime breeding and birthing despite year-round mating and delivering opportunities.

Eastern gray kangaroo natural history illustrations jumpstart seven- to 25-year lifespans from 34- to 38-day gestated, thin-shelled eggs and blind, hairless, 1-inch (2.54-centimeter), 0.0314-ounce (0.89-gram) joeys.

Females know year-round pregnancies through a birthing canal for one egg at a time and a pouch for a newborn and a joey under 12 months.

Embryos, pink, smell-led newborns with clawed, developed forelimbs, short tails and undeveloped hind-limbs and gray-brown joeys respectively live off yolk, low-fat milk and greens and milk. Physically and sexually mature females merge pregnancy, nursing and joey-raising by embryonic diapause (temporary halt) at a 100-cell body until the 11-month-old, weaned joey moves out. Weaned eastern gray kangaroos need fresh water, high-protein, young green shoots, non-aromatic green herbaceous plants and scrubland, shrubland, woodland fungi after 320 days in maternal pouches.

Eastern gray kangaroo natural history illustrations offer graze-friendly vegetation early mornings and late afternoons from sea level to 4,593.18- to 6,069.55-foot (1,400- to 1,850-meter) subalpine altitudes.

Adulthood presents 38- to 91-inch (3.17- to 7.58-foot) head-and-body lengths, 18- to 43-inch (1.5- to 3.58-foot) tail lengths and 8- to 146-pound (3.63- to 66.22-kilogram) weights.

Maturity queues up respective 3, 0, 1, 2 upper-jaw right-side and 2, 1, 0, 3 upper-jaw left-side incisor, canine, false molar and true molar dental formulas. Mature eastern gray kangaroos realize 3, 1, 0, 1 upper-jaw right-side and 1, 0, 1, 3 upper-jaw left-side incisor, canine, false molar and true molar dentition. Adults with fine-haired muzzles maximally stand 4.92 feet (1.5 meters) high and sustain 12.43- to 40.39-mile (20- to 65-kilometer) hourly speeds and 19.68-foot- (6-meter-) high hops.

Light brown-gray-bodied eastern gray kangaroo natural history illustrations treasure clawed feet for thumping danger, muscular fore- and hind-limbs and strong-jawed mouths for clicking, grunting and hissing.

eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) with joey; Crusoe Reservoir, Kangaroo Flat, central Victoria, southeastern Australia; March 22, 2016: patrickkavanagh, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) drawn June 1, 1790, by English fauna and flora illustrator Frederick Polydore Nodder (fl. ca. 1770-ca. 1800); George Shaw and F.P. Nodder's The Naturalist's Miscellany, vol. I (1790), text to Plate 33: Public Domain via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40297234

eastern gray kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) with joey; Crusoe Reservoir, Kangaroo Flat, central Victoria, southeastern Australia; March 22, 2016: patrickkavanagh, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_k59/25395181874/

For further information:

Gould, John. 1863. "Osphranter major, Shaw. Great Grey Kangaroo." The Mammals of Australia, vol. II: 12-13, Plates 1-2. London, England: Printed for The Author by Taylor and Francis.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49740643
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/mammalsAustrali2Goul#page/n11/mode/1up

Iredale, T. (Tom); and E. (Ellis) Le G. Troughton. 1934. "A Check-List of the Mammals Recorded From Australia." Australian Museum Memoir, vol. 6 (May 4, 1934): 1-122. Sydney, Australia: The Trustees of the Australian Museum.
Available @ https://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/journals/17234/516_complete.pdf
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47102257

Le Souef, A.S. (Albert Sherbourne). 1923. "The Great Grey Kangaroo (Macropus Giganteus) and Its Allies: Macropus giganteus tasmaniensis." Australian Zoologist, vol. 3: 145-147.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/38719330

Lundie-Jenkins, Geoff. "Wallabies and Kangaroos." In: Michael Hutchins, Devra G. Kleiman, Valerius Geist and Melissa C. McDade, eds. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Second edition. Volume 13, Mammals II: 83-103. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2003.

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 November 2016. "Australia's Antelope Kangaroo Natural History Illustrations." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/australias-tropical-antelope-kangaroo.html

Shaw, George; and Frederick P. Nodder. 1 June 1790. "Macropus giganteus." The Naturalist's Miscellany; Or, Coloured Figures of Natural Objects; Drawn and Described Immediately From Nature, vol. I: text to Plate 33. London, England: Nodder & Co., 1790.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40297234