MACROPUS UNGUIFER, Gould. 



Nail-tailed Kano^aroo. 



*c?^ 



Spec. Char. — Macropus vellere perbrevi, et mediocriter molli : colore fulm ; parte corporis anteriore, et collo albescent'ihus ; 



capite fere toto, nee non artubus abdomineque albis : nota fusca longitudinali, apud dorsum ; cauda albida, apicem 



versus, pilis longis etfuscis induta, ad apicem cum ungue nigr esc ente, fere magnitudinem et figuram unguis humani 



exhibente, instructa. 

 Descr. — Fur very short and moderately soft ; general colour buffy yellow, extending on to the outer side of the legs and 



the base of the tail, and gradually passing into the all but pure white of the head, ears, legs and under surface ; 



on each side of the body just before the knee a pale rusty patch ; a brownish mark commences about the middle 



of the back, runs backward over the rump, and extends to about four inches along the upper surface of the tail ; 



arms and tarsi cream-white ; an indistinct yellowish white mark, curving upwards, crosses the thigh at the base ; 



middle portion of the tail brownish, the tip being clothed with a long black tuft, in the centre of which is a 



thinnish black nail half an inch in length and a quarter of an inch in breadth, convex above and concave beneath, 



considerably resembling the nail of the human finger. 



feet, inches. 



Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail .4 4 



of tail 2 2 



„ tarsus and toes, including the nail 7^ 



„ arm and hand, including the nails 5 



,, face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear ... 4i 



„ ear 



24- 



Macropus unguifer, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part VIII. p. 93. 



This very elegant little Kangaroo, of which I have only seen a single example, was liberally placed in my hands, for 

 the purpose of being described and figured, by Mr. Bynoe of Her Majesty's Ship the Beagle, who had obtained it on the 

 north-west coast during the present expedition of that vessel, whose captains and other officers, not only in this, but in 

 her former voyage, have so largely extended our knowledge of the zoological productions of the little known countries 

 they have visited in the course of their explorations. 



This animal peculiarly attracts our attention by the circumstance of its possessing a character not found in any other 

 known member of its family, namely, a broad flattened nail much resembling that of the finger, situated at the extremity 

 of the tail, but which is not ordinarily observable, from its bein^ hidden in the tuft of long black hairs clothing the 

 apical portion of that organ. It is true that a somewhat similar character exists in the Macropus frcenatus, but in 

 that species it is merely rudimentary. 



I regret to add that nothing is at present known respecting its habits and economy. 



