SPECIES. The best known species of kangaroo is the one to which reference has already been made, the common or gray kangaroo (Marropus piganteus), also called `boomer,' forester,' and 'old man.' It is one of the largest species, an old male, when erect on his hind feet and tail, standing seven feet high, but the females aro only about two-thirds as large. The color is usually (lull yellowish-brown, paler beneath, darker on the tail, but the exact shade varies greatly, and generally the pelage has a distinctly grayish cast. The name 'gray' kangaroo dis tinguishes it from an allied slightly larger form, the great red kangaroo (Maeropus rufus), so called because the fur of the neck of the male is tinged with a carmine-like secretion. The latter species also differs from the common kan garoo in having the muffle entirely free from hair. There are numerous other species of this same genus, of which Maeropus Brunii de%erves special mention. This species is remarkable for the fact that it is found farther north, thus nearer the equator, than most of the other members of the genus, its habitat being in the Amu Islands and Great Key, near New Guinea. The northernmost habitat of a Alaeropus is the island of New Ireland, northeast of New Guinea, where Marro pus Browni is found, while in the island of west of New Guinea, and near the equator, there. occurs another kangaroo (Dorcopsis Marl Icri), representing a Papuan genus, characterized by small ears, large naked muffles, well-developed canine teeth in the upper jaw. and other peculiarities of dentition. _Another Papuan genus of great interest is 1)endrolagus, which includes the tree-kangaroos (q.v.). These curious
little kangaroos feed on hark, leaves, and fruit, and are found only in the forests of New Guinea. The hare-kangaroos, found only on the grassy plains of Australia, form the genus Lagor ehestes, and are small, long-limbed, short-tailed creatures, which make 'forms' like those of the hare. The rock-kangaroos (q.v.) of the genus Petrogale are also confined to the Australian mainland and differ very little from the smaller species of INIacropus, but inhabit rocky regions and make their retreats in eaves and holes. There are three species of kangaroo in which the tail terminates in a horny point, the use of which is still unknown. They are designated the spur-tailed kangaroos and constitute the genus Onychogale, confined to the Australian ma inland.
Remains of kangaroos are found fossil in tho Pleistocene strata of Australia, but they are mostly referable either to Macropus or Petrogale. Some of these were larger than any of the now living kangaroos. Three genera are known which have no living representatives, and of these Palorehestes is notable as the largest known member of the subfamily. Consult author ities cited under AUSTRALIA and MARSUPIALIA. Also Banks, Jo-urnal of the Rt. Hon. Joseph Banks, edited by Booker (London, 1896) ; Wheel wright (`An Old linshman'), Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist (London, 1865). See Colored Plate of MARSUPIALS ; and Plate of KANGAROOS.