Macropod hybrids

Hybrid (Juvenile) of Red Kangaroo and Great Grey Kangaroo, Rothschild Museum, Tring

Macropod hybrids are hybrids of animals within the family Macropodidae, the family of species that includes kangaroos and wallbies. Several macropod hybrids have been experimentally bred, including:

Male	Female	Result
Eastern wallaroo, Macropus robustus	Red kangaroo, M. rufus	Infertile female1
Swamp wallaby, Wallabia bicolor	Red-necked wallaby, M. rufogriseus	Sterile male2
Agile wallaby, M. agilis	Red-necked wallaby, M. rufogriseus	Sterile male2
Tammar wallaby, M. eugenii	Black-striped wallaby, M. dorsalis	Sterile male2
Western grey kangaroo, M. fuliginosus	Eastern grey kangaroo, M. giganteus	Sterile male and fertile female
Red kangaroo, M. rufus3	Eastern grey kangaroo, M. giganteus
Tammar wallaby, M. eugenii	Parma wallaby, M. parma
Tammar wallaby, M. eugenii	Pademelon, Thylogale sp.

1. May have been so poorly fertile as to be considered sterile
2. Although the males had testes, they did not produce sperm and some were found to have Y-chromosome abnormalities.
3. In-vitro fertilization used

Some hybrids between similar species have been achieved by housing males of one species and females of the other together to limit the choice of mate. To create a "natural" macropod hybrid, young animals of one species have been transferred to the pouch of another so as to imprint into them the other species. In-vitro fertilization has also been used and the fertilized egg implanted into a female of either species.

References

• Poole, WE "Reproduction in the Two Species of Grey Kangaroos, Macropus Giganteus Shaw and M. Fuliginosus (Desmarest). Ii. Gestation, Parturition and Pouch Life." Australian Journal of Zoology 23(3) 333 - 353 (1975)
• MJ Smith, DL Hayman and RM Hope, "Observations on the chromosomes and reproductive systems of four macropodine interspecific hybrids" Australian Journal of Zoology 27(6) 959 - 972 (1979)