Macropus

Macropus, from the Ancient Greek words μάκρος (mákros), meaning "long", and πους (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.

Macropus[1] Temporal range: Miocene - Present
Eastern grey kangaroo
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Diprotodontia
Family:	Macropodidae
Subfamily:	Macropodinae
Genus:	Macropus Shaw, 1790
Type species
Macropus giganteus Shaw, 1790

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)