The Classification of Three Historical Specimens of Grey Kangaroos

In 1803 a French research vessel captured 19 live specimens of Macropus fuliginosus from Kangaroo Island. Despite a long and arduous voyage, and a diet consisting sometimes of rum and damper, some live specimens reached France, including the type specimen still held at Paris. During the nineteenth century, only three preserved specimens of fuliginosus were extant in Europe, and a great deal of taxonomic confusion arose between fuliginosus and a large male Tasmanian specimen of the eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus, held at the British Museum.