Kangaroos are large marsupials that have very peculiar reproductive characteristics, which have allowed them to survive in an environment as adverse as some of the arid landscapes of the Australian continent.
Female kangaroos have a ventral bag or marsupium, which functions as a post-birth incubator chamber to continue gestating the young that was born with a very incipient development.
How Long are Kangaroos Pregnant?
The gestation period in kangaroos is 28 – 36 days from the first day of mating. Kangaroos have an average gestation period of 32 days. The immature fetus spends an additional 8 months in the ventral bag or pouch.
The gestational period of the kangaroo is one of the shortest in the entire animal kingdom, but it is really necessary to see it divided into two stages: the time the fetus spends inside the maternal uterus and the time it remains after birth in the ventral bag until development is complete.
The gestation time of the kangaroo inside the uterus ranges between 28 and 36 days, while the time they spend in the pouch can reach 8 months.
Species of Kangaroos
- Eastern grey kangaroo
- Western grey kangaroo
- Red kangaroo
- Antilopine kangaroo
- Nabarlek
The ventral pouch or pouch plays a fundamental role in the development of a baby kangaroo. This species spends very little time of its gestation inside the mother’s womb (approximately one month), so at the time of birth, they have incomplete fetal development.
They are almost always born without hair and without the ability to hear or see. It is for this reason that the baby crawls from the female’s vagina to the pouch, where it will continue to feed on mother’s milk until its development is complete
