Differences in Habitat Use and Grouping Behavior between Macropods and Eutherian Herbivores

Abstract

Patterns of movement and space use of two macropodid herbivores, red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) and euros (Macropus robustus), were investigated to test the hypothesis that mode of locomotion of kangaroos leads to differences in habitat use compared with eutherian herbivores. Data gathered from intensive radiotracking and from direct observations indicate that rate of progression while feeding is much slower among kangaroos than that of sympatric sheep and goats. This also is the case when compared with those rates measured for eutherian herbivores living in similar environments on other continents. Kangaroos have smaller, more discrete home ranges, and they use these ranges in a more patchy fashion than analogous eutherian herbivores. Circumstantial evidence supports the hypothesis that such differences in space use affected the evolution of social behavior in the two groups.