MACROPUS UNGUIFER, Gouid. 
Nail-tailed Kangaroo. 
Spec. Char.—Macropus vellere perbrevi, et mediocritér molli : colore fulvo ; parte corporis anteriore, et collo albescentibus ; 
capite ferê toto, nec non artubus abdomineque albis: notà fusca longitudinali, apud dorsum; cauda albidà, apicem 
versus, pilis longis et fuscis indutà, ad apicem cum ungue nigrescente, feré 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 
S okt. 2 E25, 6.6 Oe D. A AS EAS ES a Op 
و‎ ss tarsus and toes, including the nail . 74 
e „ arm and hand, including the nails . bo Ted g 5 
n بر‎ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear . . . 42 
T ss ear . ^ ^ res a, la 21 
Macropus unguifer, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 93. 
Tuis 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 cireumstance 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 being 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 frenatus, but in 
that species it is merely rudimentary. 
I regret to add that nothing is at present known respecting its habits and economy. 
