MAMMALIA. 413 



The genus Macropus contains upwards of thirty species, and has been 

 subdivided into several divisions, into the details of which we cannot here 

 enter. The great kangaroo {M. giganteus) is the type of the genus. It 

 inhabits New South Wales, Southern and Western Australia, and Van 

 Diemen's Land, preferring low grassy hills, and plains, and open parts of 

 the country. In Macropus, proper the disproportion between the fore and 

 hind legs is much greater, and the tail more powerful, than in the othe» 

 section of the genus. The snout is hairy. 



The section to which the name of Onychogalea has been given, comprises 

 some of the most graceful species of the kangaroo tribe. The size is mode- 

 rate ; the snout is clothed with hair ; the fur short. 



In the sub-generic section of Lagorckestis the snout is clothed with 

 velvet-like hairs ; the fore legs are small, and the hand provided with small 

 sharp-pointed nails. They inhabit open plains, and have a general resem- 

 blance to the common hare. 



In Habnaturiis, the snout or muzzle is naked in front. This section con- 

 tains the most numerous species, which are found in districts that are well 

 clothed with shrubs. Two species are represented in our plates, H. laniger 

 (pi. 112, fig. 11, a b), and H. dorsalis (pi. 112, fig, 12, a b). 



Heteropus are kangaroos with a naked snout ; the hind foot short and 

 stout, and densely clothed with coarse hairs ; nails small ; tail cylindrical. 

 and provided with long hairs, especially on the tip. They inhabit rocky 

 situations. Several species of Macropus have been found in a fossil state, 

 all of them confined to Australia. Some had attained a very large size. 



The genus Dendrolagus includes kangaroos with anterior extremities 

 large and powerful, being but little inferior in size to the posterior ones. 

 The claws of the fore feet are very large, curved, and pointed ; the muzzle 

 is clothed with small hairs as far forwards as the anterior angle of the 

 nostrils ; the tail is long, cylindrifnl. and somewhat bushy. Two species 

 of this genus are known, both of which inhabit New Guinea, and are said 

 to ascend the -trees, for which habit their strong fore legs, added to the 

 curved and powerful claws, are adapted. 



The genus Hypsiprymnns has a distinct canine tooth in the upper jaw, 

 and the anterior pair of incisors descends considerably below the level of 

 the two remaining pairs. The rat- kangaroo, or Potoroo, as the animals of 

 this genus are called, is of small size, being about equal in bulk to the 

 common rabbit. The form of the body is compact, and the fore parts but 

 little elongated. The small and rounded ears give them a different aspect 

 from the rabbit ; the toes of the fore foot are more unevenly developed in 

 the rat-kangaroo ; the nails are much compressed, solid, and broadest above. 

 The rat-k:;ngaroos feed upon the roots of plants, which they scratch up 

 with their fore feet. In some species the snout is almost entirely clothed 

 with hairs (Hypsiprymnus TjiYoper), whilst in others (Bettovgia) it is naked; 

 and in others again (Potorous) the head is elongated, the tarsi short, the 

 tail sparingly clothed with short stiff' hairs, and exhibiting a scaly skin ; the 

 snout is naked. Hypsiprymnus inhabits Australia and Van Diemen's Land. 

 The two extinct genera which follow partake to a certain extent of the 



617 



