The kangaroo receives its scientific name from its feet; the family title, _syndactyla_,[54] means “toes together,” because the second and third toes of its hind feet are united under the same skin up to the nails. The generic name, _macropus_, or “big foot,” is given because of the enormous length of the hind feet. In truth the fore-paws of the kangaroo are rather hands than feet. At first sight of this animal it is the remarkable disproportion between the shoulders and fore-legs and the hind-legs with their enormous haunches, which chiefly impresses the beholder. It is as if the head and shoulders of a rabbit or hare had been united to the hinder part of a creature as large as a pony. “This must be a very ill-shapen creature” we might conjecture from such a description. But no; the remarkably large tail, the strong, active motions, the thick fur, the bright and gentle expression of the eyes, the erect posture of the kangaroo, unite to make it a very attractive animal. The kangaroo does not go on all fours except when it lowers itself for grazing; it holds itself up; its fore-paws hang before it like arms at rest and it moves by rapid leaps. When standing quietly, it supports itself upon its long, strong tail as well as upon the hind-legs. That ancient lizard, the iguanodon, which used his two hind-legs and his strong, pointed tail as a tripod whereon to seat himself, set the fashion, it seems, to some of those little marsupials which were crawling and jumping around his feet, and might have been crushed under his mighty tread. But these frail and unpromising families of mammals have survived the iguanodon and his race by countless generations. The adult kangaroo weighs some two hundred pounds; but of kangaroos there are a number of species, and these differ in size, one species being no larger than a hare and weighing less than four pounds. This little creature is called the hare kangaroo and is the most agile of the family, making without difficulty, jumps eight or ten feet high. Fossils of the kangaroo type have been found in Australia, which suggest that the family formerly had monstrous members. Some were perhaps as large as the mastodon. When the kangaroo is spoken of in general, reference is had to the distinguished and most common variety, _Macropus giganteus_, “the giant big foot.”