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Show 112 MR. OLDFIELD THOMAS ON A NEW KANGAROO. [Feb. 20, February 20, 1900. Dr. HENRY WOODWARD, F.E.S., V.P., in the Chair. Mr. Oldfield Thomas exhibited the skin of a small Kangaroo which had been presented to the British Museum by the Society's President, the Duke of Bedford. It had lived some little time at Woburn, and was said to have been brought from Queensland or North Australia. It was most nearly allied to the West Australian Macropus eugeniiDesm., with which it agreed in size and skull-characters, but differed in its uniform pale colour and remarkably soft thick fur. Mr. Thomas proposed to call it Macropus bedfordi, and described it as follows :- Size as in M. eugenii. Fur long, thick, soft, and woolly, the hairs of the back 33-35 mm. in length. General colour uniform pale isabelline fawn, quite different from the dark colour of M. eugenii. The hairs are slaty grey at their bases, then brown, with a whitish subterminal band and a pale brown tip. Centre of face like back, slightly darkening in middle line between ears and down the neck to form a faintly darker nuchal line. Face-markings almost obsolete, the usual light cheek-line but little lighter, and the dark orbital and ramal streaks scarcely darker than the general colour. Ears short, their backs terminally sandy fawn, basally and a patch below their bases externally dull white. Chin and throat dull white ; chest and belly whitish fawn, but little lighter than the sides. Inguinal region, front of hips, and a line down the front of the lower leg white. Shoulders and outer sides of fore limbs like body, with scarcely a trace of rufous ; an indistinct darker elbow-mark present; hands whitish brown above. Legs sandy brown behind and laterally, white in front; upper surface of feet sandy white, not darkening terminally, the long hairs at the base of the claws clear yellowish white. Tail short, thick, sandy fawn above and on the sides, whitish below, not darkening terminally. Skull much as in 31. eugenii. Disproportion rather greater than usual between the small permanent premolar (p3 of modern nomenclature)' and the large square mp* (m1 of the Catalogue of Marsupials). Dimensions of the type, measured in skin:-Head and body 550 mm.; tail 360; hind foot 115; ear, from notch, 52. Skull: basal length 83; greatest breadth 49 ; nasals 34 x 15-5 ; interorbital breadth 16 ; diastema 20-5 ; length of p3 4-5 ; combined length of three anterior grinding-teeth (mp^-m2) 17. Type. Female. B.M. No. 0.2.19.1. Presented by the Duke of Bedford. This little Wallaby differs from its only near ally, 31. eugenii, 1 See Lydekker, P.Z.S. 1899, p. 922. |