Q 01/05

The English word 'kangaroo' comes from gangurru, a word in which Aboriginal language?

A) Guugu Yimithirr

B) Pitjantjatjara

C) Kaurna Warra

D) Yolŋu Matha

Answer · why

A) Guugu Yimithirr

Guugu Yimithirr is spoken around Cooktown in far north Queensland, where Cook's crew first heard the word in 1770. It originally referred to one parti...

Q 02/05

Which animal is the largest surviving marsupial in the world?

A) Common wombat

B) Red kangaroo

C) Tasmanian devil

D) Eastern grey kangaroo

Answer · why

B) Red kangaroo

A big male can stand two metres tall. Wombats and Tasmanian devils are marsupials too, but neither comes close.

Q 03/05

A large male red kangaroo can weigh roughly how much?

A) 45 kg (100 lb)

B) 90 kg (200 lb)

C) 150 kg (330 lb)

D) 250 kg (550 lb)

Answer · why

B) 90 kg (200 lb)

That is about the weight of an adult man, packed onto an animal that can still clear nine metres in a single bound.

Q 04/05

Over short distances, kangaroos can reach top speeds of up to about what?

A) 30 km/h (19 mph)

B) 50 km/h (31 mph)

C) 70 km/h (43 mph)

D) 100 km/h (62 mph)

Answer · why

C) 70 km/h (43 mph)

Their comfortable cruising pace is only about 20-25 km/h, but a startled kangaroo can briefly match a car on a suburban road.

Q 05/05

Roughly what share of a hopping kangaroo's potential energy is stored in its elastic tendons?

A) 25 percent

B) 40 percent

C) 55 percent

D) 70 percent

Answer · why

D) 70 percent

The tendons work like springs, which is why hopping faster costs a kangaroo surprisingly little extra energy.