PERAMELIDjE 143 



hollow places. They arc rather mixed feeders; but insects, worms, 

 roots, and bulbs constitute their ordinary diet. The various species 

 are widely distributed over Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and 

 several of the adjacent islands, as Am, Kei, and New Ireland. The 

 best known are — P. gunni (Fig. 42), bougamvilki, nasuta, obesida, and 

 macrura from Australia, and /'. doreyana, raffirayam, and longicaadata 

 from New Guinea. 



Remains apparently referable to existing species are found in 

 the cave-deposits of New South Wales. 



Peragah. 1 — Molar teeth curved, typically with longer crowns 

 and shorter roots than in the last. Hinder extremities proportionally 

 longer, and hallux without claw. Muzzle much elongated and 

 narrow. Fur soft and silky. Ears very large, long, and pointed. 

 Tail long, its apical half clothed on the dorsal surface with long 

 hairs which form a crest. Vertebrae : C 7, D 13, L 6, S 2, C 23. 

 Skull distinguished from that of Perameles by the large size and 

 double structure of the auditory bulla, of which the mastoid portion 

 is inflated. There is also an abrupt contraction of the muzzle at 

 the third premolar. 



The type species of Rabbit - Bandicoot (P. lagotis), as these 

 animals are called, is found in Western Australia, and also occurs 

 fossil in the cave-deposits of New South Wales. It is the largest 

 member of the family, being about the size of the common Rabbit, 

 to which animal it bears sufficient superficial resemblance to have 

 acquired the name of " Native Rabbit " from the colonists. It 

 burrows in the ground, but in other respects resembles the true 

 Bandicoots in its habits. 



The smaller P. leucura has short-crowned molars, with distinct 

 cusps, which are almost obsolete in the type species. 



Chceropus.- — Dentition generally resembling that of Perameles, 

 but the canines are less developed, and in the upper jaw two-rooted. 

 Limbs very slender ; posterior nearly twice the length of the anterior. 

 Fore feet with the functional toes reduced to two, the second and 

 third, of equal length, with closely united metacarpals and short, 

 sharp, slightly curved, compressed claws. First toe represented by 

 a minute rudiment of a metacarpal bone ; the fourth by a metacarpal 

 and two small phalanges without a claw, and not reaching the 

 middle of the metacarpal of the third ; fifth entirely absent. Hind 

 foot (Fig. 43) long and narrow, mainly composed of the strongly 

 developed fourth toe, terminating in a conical pointed nail, with a 

 strong pad behind it ; the hallux absent or represented by a rudi- 

 mentary metatarsal ; the remaining toes completely developed, and 

 with claws, but exceedingly slender ; the united second and third 

 reaching a little way beyond the metatarso-phalangeal articulation of 



1 Gray, in Grey's Australia, vol. ii. p. 401 (1841). 

 2 Ogilby, Froc. Zool. Soc. 1838, p. 25. 



