What is the largest marsupial?

What is the largest marsupial? The red kangaroo is the largest living marsupial.

Native to mainland Australia, the red kangaroo inhabits much of the continent’s arid and semi-arid interior. Large males can stand around 1.8 metres tall when upright and weigh roughly 90 kilograms, although exceptional individuals can be larger. Females are smaller and usually have blue-grey fur, while males often develop the reddish-brown coat that gives the species its name.

Its powerful hind legs and large tail are central to its distinctive hopping movement. The tail also acts as a support when the animal stands or moves slowly. Red kangaroos conserve water and cope with heat by resting in shade, reducing activity, panting, and licking their forearms to promote evaporative cooling.

A koala is a marsupial but is far smaller, and a wallaby is generally a smaller relative rather than a separate competitor for the record. The eastern grey kangaroo can be very large and is more numerous in some regions, but it does not surpass the red kangaroo in maximum overall size. Taxonomists now place the species in the genus Osphranter.