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MACROPUS UNGUIFER, Gould.
Nail-tailed Kangaroo.
Spec. Char.— Macropm cellcre perbreci, et mediocritér m olli: colore fulco ; porte corporis anteriore, et collo albesccntibus;
capte fe r e loto, nee non artubus^ abdomineque aliñs: nota fusca longitudinals, apud dorsum; cauda tdbida, apicem
versus, pdis longts etfuscismdula, ad apicem cum ungue nigrescente, fe r e magnitudinem e t figuram unguis hunumi
exhibente, instruct a.
Descr. Fur very short and moderately soft; general colour bufly yellow, extending on to the outer side o f the legs and
the base o f the tad, and gradually passing into the all but pure white o f the head, ears, legs and under surface ■
on each side o f the body just before the knee a pale rusty patch; a brownish mark commences about the middle
o f the back, runs backward over the rump, and extends to about four inches along the upper surface o f the ta il;
arms and tarsi cream-white; an indistinct yellowish white mark, curving upwards, crosses the thigh at the base •
middle portion o f the tail brownish, the tip being clothed with a long black tuft, in the centre o f which is a
thmmsh' black nail half an mch in length and a quarter of an iqch in breadth, convex above and concave beneath
considerably resembling the nail o f the human finger.
Length from the nose to the extremity of the t a i l .................................... ^ !n^ies’
„ of t a i l ................................................................................................ ...... 2
» » tarsus and toes, including the n a il........................................... j x
„ „ arm and hand, including the n a ils ........................................... 5
,, „ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear . . . 4-l
1 § g .................................................................................. 4
Macropus unguifer, Gould in Proc. o f Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 93.
, — ’ m 5eeu a sing*e example, was liberally placed in my hands, foi
the purpose o f being described and figured, by Mr. Bynoe o f Her Majesty’s Ship the Beagle, who had obtained it on th,
north-west coast during the present expedition o f that vessel, whose captains and other officers, not only in this but it
her former voyage, have so largely extended our knowledge o f the zoological productions o f the little known eountriei
they have visited in the course o f their explorations.
This animal peculiarly attracts our attention by the circumstance o f its possessing a character not found in any othei
known member o f its family, namely, a broad flattened nail much resembling that o f the finger, situated at the extremity
of the tail, but which is not ordinarily observable, from its being hidden in the tuft o f long black hairs clothing the
apical portion o f that organ. It is true that a somewhat similar character exists in the Macropus frarnatus, but in
that species it is merely rudimentary.
I regret to add that nothing is at present known respecting its habits and economy.