A DE8CRIPTI0T<r OF MACEOPTJS ISABELLINUS, GOULD — WAITE. 131 



DESCRIPTION OF MACROPUS ISABELLINUS, 

 GOULD/ 



By Edgar R. Waite, F.L.S., Zoologist. 



(Plates xviii.-xix.) 



The subject of the following description was obtained by Mr. 

 J. T. Tunney at Barrow Island, North-western Australia, on the 

 16th November, 1900. The prepared skin, together with the skull 

 and leg bones, was forwarded to the Trustees by Mr. B. H. 

 Woodward, Curator of the Western Australian Museum. It 

 represents an adult male, and, as ascertained by an examination 

 of the skull, the animal was what Mr. Thomas" calls " aged," the 

 fourth molar tooth being in place. 



Description. 



Size medium, form stout and heavy. Fur of moderate length, 

 very soft, fine, and nearly straight, coarser on the head and neck ; 

 muzzle with a large naked rhinarium, the hair encroaching on its 

 hinder border, much as in M. robustus. General colour buffish-red, 

 paler on the flanks, where it merges into the white of the belly ; 

 browner on the head. Ears, brown without, darker towards the 

 tips, and white within. Snout, grey above, margin of upper lip 

 white ; throat white ; a large oval dark-grey patch on the chin. 

 Upper arm and chest white, belly tinged with yellow, top of hip 

 and middle of leg grey. Lower forearm brown above, becoming 

 darker towards the fingers, on which the hair is dark brown. Feet 

 similarly coloured, the hair on the middle toes black with brown 

 tips ; that of the other toes golden-brown. Central hind claws 

 short, with a groove along each side ; the hair projects far beyond 

 all the claws. Tail uniformly yellowish-bufi^ above and below, 

 with the exception of its basal portion, the upper part being 

 coloured like the body, and the lower part white. 



The hair of the face and head is inclined in opposite directions, 

 meeting behind the eyes, where a transverse crest is formed ; a 

 central ridge passes thence between the ears and some way down 



1 Gould— Proc. Zool. Soc, ix., 1841, p. 81. 



2 Thomas— Brit. Mus. Cat., Marsupialia, 1888, p. 7. 



