After completing a genetic map of kangaroos, Australian researchers have found kangaroos share many of the same genes with humans, and some are even arranged in the same order as human genes.
The Centre of Excellence for Kangaroo Genomics, an Australian government-backed research organization, has completed a genetic study of kangaroos. There are about 26 species of
kangaroo and 200 different
marsupials in Australia, but the organization used one type of kangaroo (a Tammar wallaby) for this study.
Researchers developed a full gene map of this kangaroo for the first time, and a gene comparison between the marsupial and the humans showed surprising results, as many of the same genes were found in both and in the exact same sequence.
Jenny Graves, the center’s director, was surprised with the findings.
Graves told
Al-Jazeera: "There is great chunks of the human genome which is sitting right there in the kangaroo genome."
The study showed kangaroos first evolved in China and then migrated to various parts of the world.
Another surprising finding from the study was that humans and kangaroos diverged from a single species at least 150 million years ago.
A previous study cited by the
Al Jazeera showed that mice and humans diverged from one another about 70 million years ago. Another genomic study of
platypus showed some similarities with humans.
Graves said it is amazing to see how many animal species have evolved over time:
"We go back in time and compare ourselves with a mouse and a kangaroo and a platypus and a chicken and that tells us how our genomes evolved...It's kind of like looking at the stars and trying to imagine the big bang."
