genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of large
marsupials
Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a ...
in the family
Macropodidae
Macropodidae is a Family (biology), family of marsupials that includes kangaroos, Wallaby, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other groups. These genera are allied to the suborder Macropodiformes, containing ...
, commonly known as
kangaroo
Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
s and
wallaroo
Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies, that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'' wi ...
s (among other species). It contains the largest extant marsupial, the
red kangaroo
The red kangaroo (''Osphranter rufus'') is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the Largest mammals#Marsupials (Marsupialia), largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, exce ...
(''O. rufus'').
In 2019, a reassessment of macropod taxonomy determined that ''Osphranter'' and ''
Notamacropus
''Notamacropus'' is a genus of small marsupials in the family Macropodidae, commonly known as wallabies (among other species). The term is derived from the Latin ''nota'' "stripe" and ''macropus'' "kangaroo", referencing the distinct facial stri ...
'', formerly considered subgenera of ''
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 kn ...
'', should be moved to the genus level. This change was accepted by the
Australian Faunal Directory
The Australian Faunal Directory is an online catalogue of taxonomic and biological information on all animal species known to occur within Australia. It is a database produced by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water ...
in 2020.
The genus has a fossil record that extends back at least into the