Macropodide
or MACROPIDE, in zoölogy, a family of Marsupials, section Phytophaga, or in Owens' classification Diprododontia. There are six incisors in the upper jaw, and two in the iower; the canines in the upper jaw are small and wanting in the lower one; the molars are five on each side above and below. The anterior feet, which are small, have five toes, each armed with a claw; the hinder ones, which are very large, powerful, and well adapted for leaping, have but four, the inner one, or great toe, being absent. Found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. Huge Macropi are found in the post-Tertiary of Australia with representatives of the other genera. Kangaroos, one of genera, seem to have been limited to Australia before the human period began.
MACROPUS (mak'-), the generic name of the kangaroos, applied to them in allusion to their elongated hind feet.
See KANGAROO..