M A T T U R I E T S
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HALMATURUS RUFICOLLIS.
Rufous-necked Wallaby.
H e a d a n d A r m s o f b o t h S e x e s , o f t h e s i z e o f l i f e .
An opinion exists among zoologists that the Halmaturus Bennetti, which is exclusively
confined to Tasmania, and the H. ruficollis of the opposite portion of the Australian continent,
are one and the same species, and that the difference in the colouring of the two
animals is merely the effect of climate; the full-sized heads, then, which are given as
accessories to the reduced figures on the succeeding Plate will be of value as illustrative
of the difference in question. Certain it is, that all the specimens from the continent
(the H. ruficollis of this work and of previous authors) are much redder in colour, and
have the white of the cheeks extending further on the breast, than the H. Bennetti
procured in Tasmania. As these differences are carefully detailed on the succeeding
page, it will not be necessary to enter into them here.
The accompanying Illustration represents the head and forearms of both sexes, as near
the size of life as possible.