MBTR.OGAMB ROBUJSTUS. ffm k
PETROGALE ROBUSTA, Gould.
Great Rock Wallaby.
Spec. Char.—Petrogale ar tubus anticis magnis et prcerobustis ,■ vellere e fusco cinereo, in f erne pallidiore ; tarsis fuscis /
digitis antice nigris ; antipedibus carpisque nigris ; capite fuliginoso leviter tincto; utraque gena linea albescente
not at a ; gula, guttureque albidis ; cauda superne fusca, sub t us pallidiore.
Descr.—M a l e . Fur harsh and somewhat shaggy; general colour slate-grey, obscurely washed with brownish, and
tinted with vinous on the outer sides o f the thighs; feet dark brown, gradually passing into black on the forepart
; upper part o f the arm brownish; hands and wrists black; inner surface o f the ear white, the exterior
brown ; muzzle and a patch on the chin blackish; a line round the angle o f the mouth and the lower lip white;
throat and fore-part o f the neck white, the hairs being grey at the base; under surface like the upper, but
paler; tail blackish brown above, paler beneath.
F e m a l e . General colour silvery grey, obscurely tinted with purplish or vinous on the back; under surface nearly
white; cheeks hoary, with a blackish patch on the chin ; tail dirty white, slightly tinged with brown on the upper
sid e ; legs paler than the body; hands brown, becoming nearly black on the fingers; toes brownish black above.
Male. Female.
feet, inches. feet, inches.
Length from the nose to the extremity o f the tail . . . . . . . 7 0 . . . 5 10
„ o f t a i l ................................................................................ , . 2 104-. . . 2 6
„ ,, tarsus and toes, including the n a il ................................... 12 . . . 1 10£
,, ,, arm and hand, including the n a i l s ................................... 13* . . 9-i-
„ ,, face from the tip o f the nose to the base o f the ear . 8 . . 7
• „ » ear ............................. ..... ......................................................... ¡¡¡1 3
Macropns (Petrogale) robustus, Gould in Proc. o f Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 92.
Black IVallaroo of the Colonists.
T he Great Rock Wallaby, which may be considered the Chamois among the Kangaroos, inhabits the summits o f sterile
and rocky mountains, seldom descending to the coverts o f their sides and never to their base; few, therefore, have had
an opportunity o f observing it in a state o f nature; indeed there are thousands o f persons in Australia who are not even
aware o f its existence. Although the south-eastern portion o f the continent is, I believe, the only part o f the country in
which it has yet been observed, in all probability it has an extensive range northwards. It is tolerably abundant on
the Liverpool range, and I ascertained that it inhabited many o f those hills that branch off on either side o f this great
mountain-chain, both towards the interior as well as towards the coast.
Like the other members o f the genus, the Petrogale robusta is extremely agile among the rocks, and its retreats are
so well chosen among the crags and overhanging ledges, that it is nearly useless to attempt its pursuit and capture with
dogs. It is a formidable and even dangerous animal to approach, for if so closely pressed that it has no other chance
o f escape, it will rush at and force the invader over the edge o f the rocks, as the Ibex is said to do under similar
circumstances. Independently o f its great muscular power, this animal is rendered still more formidable by the manner
in which it makes use o f its teeth, biting its antagonist with great severity.
The Petrogale robusta may he regarded as a gregarious animal, four, six and even more being frequently seen in
company. On one of the mountains near Turi, to the eastward o f the Liverpool Plains, it was very numerous; and from
the nature o f this and the other localities in which I observed it, it must possess the power o f existing for long periods
without water, that element being rarely to be met with in such situations.
The summits o f the hills to which this species resorts soon become intersected by numerous roads and well-trodden
tracks, caused by its repeatedly traversing from one part to the other; its food consists of grasses and the shoots and
leaves o f the low scrubby trees which clothe the hills it frequents.
Although much shorter in stature, and consequently less elegant in form, the fully adult male o f this species equals in
weight the largest specimens of Macropus major; and so remarkable is the difference in the colour and size o f the sexes,
that had I not seen them together in a state o f nature, I should have considered them to be different species, the black
and powerful male offering so great a contrast to the small and delicate female.