Let's Hop To It With A Down Under Fun Fact
I hope you read that in an Australian accent like I did.
Welcome to Fun Fact Friyay! This newsletter is all about keeping things brief and sending you off into the world smarter, wiser, and happier.
Today’s fact: Kangaroos and emus cannot walk backward.
As humans, it’s fairly easy for us to move in all directions. We may not be able to moonwalk like Michael Jackson, but if we’re standing too close to, say, a birthday cake that isn’t ours and someone calls us out on it, we can simply take a few steps back and avoid potential disaster.
Kangaroos and emus do not have such luxury.
These Australian animals cannot walk backward. In the case of kangaroos, this is largely due to their big ol’ tail. Their jumping is known as “saltatory locomotion” and allows them to bound forward and side to side.
So while they may not be able to reverse out of a parking spot (you know, those unique parking spots designed for marsupials), kangaroos can travel up to 30 feet in a single hop. That’s a pretty effective mode of transportation.
Emus, meanwhile, are flightless birds that appear similar to ostriches. Yet, while an ostrich can move backward, an emu cannot. Their calf muscles — something other birds don’t have — allow them to move forward at great, sometimes frightening speed. But their knee joints are likely the reason why they can’t walk backward. They simply don’t move in that direction.
Don’t feel too bad for these animals, though. They have a super cool honor bestowed upon them by their native country.
The Australian coat of arms features a kangaroo and an emu — a sign that the country will only move forward and never backward.
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