. The geography of mammals. s ofAustralia, Mr. Gould has devoted the whole of the secondvolume to the illustration of members of this family,figuring no less than forty-four species. Mr. Thomas, inhis catalogue of the Marsupialia (12), has recognised forty-five species. These are divided into eleven genera, of which the bestknown and largest are Macropus, Dendrolagus, andBettongia. The first of these genera contains the largerkangaroos, in which the upper incisors are of equal length,the canine teeth are deciduous when present, and all thetoes of the fore feet are of nearly equal length. One o
. The geography of mammals. s ofAustralia, Mr. Gould has devoted the whole of the secondvolume to the illustration of members of this family,figuring no less than forty-four species. Mr. Thomas, inhis catalogue of the Marsupialia (12), has recognised forty-five species. These are divided into eleven genera, of which the bestknown and largest are Macropus, Dendrolagus, andBettongia. The first of these genera contains the largerkangaroos, in which the upper incisors are of equal length,the canine teeth are deciduous when present, and all thetoes of the fore feet are of nearly equal length. One of thefinest and most brightly coloured of this larger group isthe Red Kangaroo (Fig. 5, p. 31), which has been introducedinto Europe, and breeds freely in our zoological gardens. THE AUSTRALIAN REGION 31 Derdrolagus includes four species of Tree-kangaroos, ofwhich, however, only one is found in Australia, DendrolagusIv/nihoUzi of Northern Queensland, the others being con-fined to New Guinea. They are remarkable for the fact. Fig. 5.—The Red Kangaroo.{Macropus rufus.) that the proportionate lengths of the fore and hind limbs,unlike those of the true kangaroos, resemble those ofordinary mammals; they further differ from all otherkangaroos in being arboreal in their habits, climbing treeswith great facility, and living on bark, fruits, and leaves. 32 THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS Bettongia and its allied genus Potorows embrace theKangaroo-rats, as they are often termed. These are allsmall, never exceeding a rabbit in size; they possess well-developed canine teeth, and have the central toes ofthe fore feet elongated to accommodate their digginghabits. Having completed our survey of the Monotremes andMarsupials of the Australian Sub-region, we must now con-sider the Eutherian series, which, as has been alreadyshown, plays a very subordinate part in this extraordinaryfauna. Putting aside the marine mammals—the Seals,Cetaceans, and Sirenians—and confining our attention tothe terrestr
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