28 TRICHOSURUS. 



terminal third or half naked beneath ; its extreme tip naked all 

 round. A gland on the chest. Mammae 1 



Dentition. I. ^f| 0. -J, P. ^|, M. J|f| = (at most) 16 + 2 



x 2 = 36. 

 Habits. Arboreal ; phytophagous. 



1. TRICHOSURUS CANINUS, W. Ogilby, sp. (1835). 

 Short-eared Opossum. 



Size large. Fur comparatively short. Ears short, evenly 

 rounded, not so long as broad. General color above clear grizzled 

 gray or deep umber-brown with a rufous tinge, paler on the fore- 

 quarters, sides, and below, darker along the posterior back. 

 Tail very thick and bushy, nearly wholly black. 



Dimensions.- Head and body about twenty-two inches ; tail 

 about fifteen inches. 



Habitat. New South Wales ; Southern Queensland. 



References. Thomas, B. M. Catal. p. 191 ; Gould, Mamm. 

 Austr. i. pi. xvii. 



2. TRICHOSURUS VULPECULA, Kerr, sp. (1792). 

 Common Opossum. 



Size small. Fur close, thick, and woolly. General color above 

 clear grizzled gray ; below, chin more or less blackish ; throat, 

 chest, and belly white or dirty yellow ; a median chest-patch in 

 adults rusty red. Ears long and narrow, much longer than 

 broad, nearly naked inside and terminally outside. Hands and 

 feet white, gray, or brown. Tail thick, cylindrical, and bushy, 

 terminal half or two-thirds gray, its end black ; the extreme tip 

 occasionally white, the naked part below transversely wrinkled, 

 from three to six inches in extent. 



Dimensions. Head and body about eighteen inches ; tail about 

 eleven inches. 



Habitat. All Australia except the Cape York District. 



References. Thomas, B. M. Catal. p. 187 ; Gould, Mamm. 

 Austr. i. pi. xvi. 



Note. The Phalangista johnstonii of Dr. Ramsay is now con- 

 sidered by its author as a larger and more brightly colored local 

 variety of T. mdpecula. 



T. VULPECULA, var. FULIGINOSUS, W. Oyilbi/, sp. (1831). 

 Tasmanian Opossum. 



Size larger, and form stouter and heavier than in the typical 

 form. Fur longer and thicker. General color rufous-gray or 

 deep umber-brown. Ears with little or no white behind. Tail 

 very thick and bushy, almost wholly black. 



