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Young wallabies get a free ride

Nature volume 395, pages 653–654 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Wallabies and kangaroos increase their speed of hopping with little increase in their use of metabolic energy, apparently by means of elastic energy savings in their hindlimb tendons1,3. Here we report that, because of this storage capacity, female tammar wallabies can carry large young in their pouch at very low cost, with no increase in metabolic energy expenditure.

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Figure 1: Metabolic rate and muscle and tendon stress in hopping wallabies.

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Author notes

  1. A. A. Biewener

    Present address: Concord Field Station, MCZ Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Bedford, Massachusetts, 01730, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, South Australia, Australia

    R. V. Baudinette

  2. Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, 60637, Illinois, USA

    A. A. Biewener

Authors
  1. R. V. Baudinette
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  2. A. A. Biewener
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Baudinette, R., Biewener, A. Young wallabies get a free ride. Nature 395, 653–654 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/27111

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