Robust lateralization in forelimb use has recently been found in bipedal, but not quadrupedal, marsupial mammals. The link between bipedality and handedness, occurring in both marsupials and primates, remains to be investigated. To shed light on the developmental origins of marsupial manual lateralization, infants of macropod marsupials were examined before and shortly after the acquisition of habitual bipedal posture and locomotion. Forelimb preferences were assessed in natural, not artificially evoked, behaviors of infant red-necked wallaby in the wild and infant eastern gray kangaroo in free-ranging captivity. Pouch young of both species showed population-level left-forelimb preference when manipulating food objects, such as leaves and grass blades. This result provides the first report of lateralization in pouch young marsupials and rare evidence of lateralized manual activity in early mammalian ontogenesis. Young-at-foot juveniles of eastern gray kangaroo preferred to use the left forelimb to manipulate