Great Kangaroo. 
(MAOROPUS MAJOR. Female, with young.) 
The animal here represented is the female of the common or Great Kangaroo, which has been already described, and 
we take this opportunity to review the whole family, comprising the following natural groups or genera : — 
Great Kangaroos (Macropus) ; weight of animal up to 200 lbs. 
Wallabies or Brush-kangaroos (Halmaturus ) ; weight from 10 to 50 lbs. 
Rock-wallabies or Rock-kangaroos ( Petro galea ) ; weight up to 30 lbs. 
Tree-wallabies or Tree-kangaroos ( Dendrolagus ) ; weight up to 30 lbs. 
Silky-haired or Nail-tail Kangaroos ( Onychogalea) ; weight from 8 to 10 lbs. 
Hare-kangaroos (Lagorchestes) ; weight from 6 to 8 lbs. 
Bettongs or Jerboa Kangaroos (Bettongia) ; weight from 4 to 3 lbs. 
Hypsiprymni or Rat-kangaroos (Hypsiprymnus ) ; weight from 2 to 5 lbs. 
THE GREAT KANGAROOS— (GENUS MACROPUS.) 
First and second upper incisors rather feeble, third very broad, with two slight vertical folds.* Permanent premolar 
small, and soon lost ; molars pushed gradually out, so that the normal number of molar teeth — is never found perfect 
in aged animals. The teeth are always irregular, and are frequently retained longer in one ramus than in the other. When 
the last molar has come into position, the dentition may be considered complete, and would stand in this way : — 
incisors premolars — , molars = 28 teeth. The skull is rather broad between the orbits, rounded above the 
anterior portion of the zygoma, and the space between the grinders and the incisors rather longer than in the smaller 
Kangaroos. The arms are strong, but appear small from the elbow to the wrist, on account of their being covered 
with short adpressed hair. The tail is long, very powerful, and forms a strong support to the body. 
It is difficult to say how far the common Kangaroo ranges northward, — probably not much beyond the tropics. 
The West Australian Kangaroo is a distinct species. 
Western Kangaroo ( Macropus ocydromus). 
This animal, which at first sight appears identical with the common Kangaroo, is of a smaller size ; its limbs 
are finer, and the fur shorter but more woolly. The colour is slightly darker, and the legs white, or nearly so. It is 
peculiar to West Australia. 
Sooty Kangaroo (Macropus JMiginosus) . 
Little is known of this species, which Was first discovered by French voyagers on Kangaroo Island, where it 
is not now to be found. The fur is longer, more yellowish, and has a more woolly texture than the fur of the Great 
Kangaroo. 
Red Kangaroo (Mctcropus rvfus j.'f- 
The male is rich orange-red, with the legs and abdomen of a light yellowish-white ; throat and chest delicate 
pink. This colour is very deep during the rutting season, and appears to be a sort of pigment excreted from the body. 
We have often examined old males a short time after death, and have also kept others in an enclosure, and in every 
one of these animals the colouring matter of the neck and breast marked the fingers when these parts were touched. 
When some of the tame animals were driven about and had exerted themselves violently, the colouring became more 
apparent, and a peculiar odour, not unpleasant however, was also noticed. 
The teeth are slightly different from those of Macropus major ; the stronger premolar is not pushed out ; but 
having examined only a few skulls of adults we cannot say whether these characteristics are constant. 
The Red Kangaroo inhabits the interior of New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia. The female is 
bluish-grey; legs and abdomen white. Weight of male about 200 lbs. 
* These folds or grooves become obliterated with age. 
t Those authors who are fond of making genera without giving proper reasons for so doing, arrange the Red Kangaroo with the genus Osphranter , — we believe on the strength 
of its “hairy nose.” If a division is desirable, let those animals be comprised under the genus Osphranter of which the sexes differ in colour. 
(5 x mf/) 
