| Fossil range | Miocene - Present |
|---|---|
| Taxon | Macropus |
| Authority | Shaw, 1790 |
| Type species | Macropus giganteus |
| Type species authority | Shaw, 1790 |
Macropus, from the Ancient Greek words μακρός (makrós), meaning "long", and πούς (pous), meaning "foot", is a marsupial genus in the family Macropodidae. It has two extant species of large terrestrial kangaroos. Thirteen known extinct species are recognised. The type species is the eastern grey kangaroo.
Taxonomy
In 2019, a reassessment of macropod taxonomy determined that Osphranter and Notamacropus, formerly considered subgenera, should be moved to the genus level.[2] This change was accepted by the Australian Faunal Directory in 2020.[3]
Extant Species
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus) | ||
| Eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) |
Fossils
A currently-unnamed Pleistocene Macropus species from Australia was the largest kangaroo ever, with an estimated mass of around 274 kg (~604 lb).[4]
- †Macropus dryas
- †Macropus gouldi
- †Macropus narada
- †Macropus piltonensis
- †Macropus rama
- †Macropus woodsi
- †Macropus pavana
- †Macropus thor
- †Macropus ferragus
- †Macropus mundjabus
- †Macropus pan
- †Macropus pearsoni
- †Macropus titan (or †Macropus giganteus titan)
References
- ^
- ^ Celik, Mélina; Cascini, Manuela; Haouchar, Dalal; Van Der Burg, Chloe; Dodt, William; Evans, Alistair; Prentis, Peter; Bunce, Michael; Fruciano, Carmelo; Phillips, Matthew (28 March 2019). "A molecular and morphometric assessment of the systematics of the Macropus complex clarifies the tempo and mode of kangaroo evolution". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 186 (3): 793–812. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz005. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ "Names List for MACROPODIDAE, Australian Faunal Directory". Australian Biological Resources Study, Australian Department of the Environment and Energy. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ^ Hocknull, Scott A.; Lewis, Richard; Arnold, Lee J.; Pietsch, Tim; Joannes-Boyau, Renaud; Price, Gilbert J.; Moss, Patrick; Wood, Rachel; Dosseto, Anthony; Louys, Julien; Olley, Jon (2020-05-18). "Extinction of eastern Sahul megafauna coincides with sustained environmental deterioration". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 2250. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.2250H. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15785-w. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7231803. PMID 32418985
Further reading
- Speare, R. & Thomas, A. D. (June 1988). "Speare, R. and Thomas, A.D. (1988), Orphaned kangaroo and wallaby joeys as a potential zoonotic source of Salmonella spp..". Medical Journal of Australia. 148: 619–623. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1988.tb116333.x. S2CID 23290403
External links
- "Macropus Shaw, 1790". Atlas of Living Australia.