Kangaroo, the word:
A widely held belief has it that the word kangaroo comes from an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "I don't know."
This is the Word Myth and very much un-true.
The word was first recorded in 1770 by Captain James Cook, when he landed to make repairs along the northeast coast of Australia. This account is also backed up by the ship's naturalist SIr Joesph Banks. It was recorded in the ship's log as spelled either kangooroo or kanguru.
In 1820, Captain Phillip K. King recorded a different word for the animal, written "mee-nuah." As a result, it was assumed that Captain Cook had been mistaken, and the myth grew up that what he had heard was a word meaning "I don't know" (presumably as the answer to a question in English that had not been understood).
Recent linguistic fieldwork, however, has confirmed the existence of a word gangurru in the northeast Aboriginal language of Guugu Yimidhirr, referring to a species of kangaroo.
Kangaroo, the animal:
The name for a number of Australian marsupials that are members of the family Macropodidae. This family also includes the wallabies. The kangaroos and their relatives occur principally in Australia, but are found in Tasmania and New Guinea as well.
Kangaroos have a long, thick tail that is used as a balancing organ, and enlarged hindlegs that are adapted for jumping in many species. The forelimbs are quite short, except in arboreal species such as the blacktree kangaroo (Dendrolagus ursinus) and its relatives, in which all four limbs are about the same length. The two largest species are the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) and the great gray kangaroo (M. giganteus).
Kangaroos usually have one offspring each year. After the uterine gestation period of about 6 weeks, the very immature young "joee" crawls into the marsupium. After an uninterrupted period of 2 months, it ventures out to find food and then returns to the safety of the marsupium. It may seek the protection of the pouch for up to 9 months.
