ORDER MARSUPIALIA: MARSUPIALS 



85 



The fur is long and coarse; color above grizzled rufescent gray; 

 an indistinct white stripe crossing the sides just in front of hips; 

 under parts grayish white; ears rather long, black on outer surface; 

 tail thickly haired, pale gray above, white below. Head and body, 

 520 mm.; tail, 380 mm. (Thomas, 1888, pp. 103-104.) 



Gould writes (1863, vol. 2, p. 75) : "The south-eastern portion of 

 the continent is its true habitat; and it is almost universally dis- 



FIG. 10. Rufous Rat-kangaroo (Aepyprymnus rufescens) 



persed over New South Wales, both on the sea and interior side of 

 the mountain ranges. I found it very abundant on the stony sterile 

 ridges bordering the grassy flats of the Upper Hunter, and in all 

 similar situations. . . . From its invariably seeking shelter in the 

 hollow logs" when startled from its nest, it "easily falls a prey to the 

 natives, who hunt it for food." 



Of its status on the Comboyne Plateau, New South Wales, Chis- 

 holm says (1925, p. 73) : "Not here now, but I am informed by an 

 early settler that years ago they were a great pest to the farmers, 

 and had to be persistently poisoned. This animal appears to be fast 

 becoming extinct, probably largely due to the depredations of the 



