﻿152 ALLEN S NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 



1 



Notwithstanding its gigantic stature, it may be inferred from 

 the similarity of the limb-bones of all the fossil Kangaroos to 

 those of the living species that this extinct form progressed 

 by leaps in the same manner as its modern cousins. 



Distribution. — Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales ; 

 the remains occurring both in the superficial deposits of the 

 two former districts, and likewise in the caverns of the Wel- 

 lington Valley in the latter. 



GENUS PROCOPTODON. 



Procoptodon, Owen, Phil. Trans., 1874, p. 788. 



The Kangaroos of this genus, although smaller than the pre- 

 ceding, were likewise, in most cases, of very large size. Agree- 

 ing with the latter in the structure of their premolar teeth, and 

 likewise in the bony union between the two branches of the 

 lower jaw of the adult, they differed by the extreme shortness 

 and depth of the whole lower jaw, and the smallness of the in- 

 terval between the incisor and premolar teeth. Another pe- 

 culiarity is to be found in the circumstance that the enamel of 

 the molar teeth is generally thrown into a number of vertical 

 folds and puckerings ; while the lower incisor teeth differ from 

 those of all living Kangaroos in their cylindrical form. The 

 skull differs from that of Palorchestes in having unossified 

 vacuities in the palate, as in the existing members of the 

 family. The lower jaw is easily recognised by the conversion 

 of the usual pit on the outer side of its hinder portion into a 

 complete pocket, owing to the great development of its outer 



wall. 



Certain limb-bones which have been tentatively assigned to 

 this genus, indicate, if their association with the jaws be 

 correct, that the disproportion between the front and hind 

 limbs was less marked than is the case in Macropiis. 



