. Natural history. Zoology. 194 MAMMALIA—ORDER XI.— bhe heading of kangaroos proper, and larger and lesser wallabies. While the great grey kangaroo (Af. giganteiis) has the stature of a man, some of the smaller wallabies are no bigger than a rabbit. The great majority of the species are confined to Australia and Tas- mania, but the agile wallaby (M. agilis) is common to Australia and New Guinea, while the Aru Island wallaby {M. brimii) is restricted to the Aru and Kei Islands, and the sombre wallaby (M. broimii) is common to New Guinea and the New Britain group. From the true kang
. Natural history. Zoology. 194 MAMMALIA—ORDER XI.— bhe heading of kangaroos proper, and larger and lesser wallabies. While the great grey kangaroo (Af. giganteiis) has the stature of a man, some of the smaller wallabies are no bigger than a rabbit. The great majority of the species are confined to Australia and Tas- mania, but the agile wallaby (M. agilis) is common to Australia and New Guinea, while the Aru Island wallaby {M. brimii) is restricted to the Aru and Kei Islands, and the sombre wallaby (M. broimii) is common to New Guinea and the New Britain group. From the true kangaroos the larger wal- labies differ by their more brilliant coloration, and the presence of a longitudinal external bridge connecting the anterior ledge of the molars with the first of the two transverse ridges, coupled with the absence of a median longitudinal bridge between the same ledge and ridge. The habits of kangaroos and wallabies have been so often described as to render a repetition unnecessary. From the preceding genus the six species of rock-wallabies (Petrogale) are distin- guished by the shortness of the large claw of the hind-foot, which only slightly exceeds the naked pads on the sole in length, and by the long cylindrical tail being thinner, more thickly haired, and tufted at the tip. These wallabies are restricted to the Australian mainland, and differ from the true wallabies by inhabiting rocky districts instead of open plains. Their climbing and leaping powers are highly developed ; but the tail is employed solely as a balancing organ, and never as a support to the body. The presence of a horny spur or nail of unknown function at the tip of the long, tapering, and short-haired tail is a sufficiently distinctive feature of the three nail-tailed wallabies constituting the genus Onychogale. In addition to this, these animals have the nose hairy (with the exception in some cases of the base of the partition between the two nostrils); while the large claw of
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