KANGAROO', Macropus, a genus of marsupial quadrupeds, of which there arc many species, almost all Australian, although a few are found in New Guinea and neighboring islands. The genus, which seine naturalists subdivide, is the type of a family of macro pidce, including also the kangaroo-rats or potoroos (q.v.), which have canine teeth in the upper jaw, whilst the kangaroos have no canine teeth, and in their dentition generally, and in their digestive system, make a nearer approach than any other marsupial quad rupeds to the ruminants; the potoroos, on the other hand, approaching the rodent type. Kangaroos are said sometimes to ruminate. The stomach of kangaroos is large, and is formed of two elongated sacs. They are entirely' herbivorous. The macropicke are all characterized by great length of the hind legs, whilst the fore legs are small; but the radius allows a complete rotation of the fore-arm, and they make use of the fore feet as organs of prehension, and for many purposes, with great adroitness. The fore feet have five toes, each armed with a strong curved nail; the hind feet have four toes—one very large central toe, with a very large solid nail. The hind feet are very long, through an extraordinary elongation of the metatarsal bones. The tail is very long, thick, strong. and tapering, and is of great use in balancing the animal in its leaps, and also for sus taining the body in its ordinary erect sitting posture, in which it uses the hind legs and the root of the tail as a tripod. In this posture,,also, it usually walks by the hind legs alone. The head is in form somewhat like that of a deer; the ears moderately large, and oval; the eyes large and the aspect mild.
The GREAT KANGAROO, M giganteus, is generally about 7+ ft. in length from the nose to the tip of the tail, the tail being rather more than 3 ft. in length, and fully a foot in circumference at the base. The height of the animal is rather more than 50 in. in
the erect sitting posture already mentioned, but it sometimes raises itself on its toes to look around it, and its height is then greater than that of a man. The WOOLLY K.awon two or Ran KANGAROO, M Janine'', rather exceeds it in size. The great kangaroo was first discovered in Cook's first voyage, June 22, 1770, and until that time it may almost he said that kangaroos were unknown to Europeans, although a New Guinea species(11, B had been described by Le Brun in 1711. It is of a grayish-brown color, the fur mode rately long and moderately soft. It is found in many parts of Australia and in Van Diemen's land. It sometimes attains the weight of 160 lbs., or upwards. The flesh is highly esteemed, and it is much sought after by the colonists, so that it is now rare in regions where it was once abundant It is not properly gregarious. The kangaroos are all timid animals, making their escape front their pursuers by extraordinary leaps. The great kangaroo often proves too swift for grey-hounds. When driven to bay it sometimes kills a dog by a single stroke of its bind leg, the ripping him open at once. Some of the kangaroos inhabit open plains, some are more generally found in forests, some are frequent on the snowy summits of the highest Australian mountains. They are of very various size; some are not much larger than a rabbit. They are easily tamed; some species have been brought to Britain, and have bred in zoological collec tions, but have not yet been properly naturalized.
The exceeding immature state in which young kangaroos arc born, and the manner in which they are nourished, fall to be noticed in the article MAnsurum. Ere they finally desert the pouch of the mother, the young may be seen poking their heads out of it and nibbling the herbage among which she moves.