24 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD 



on the prehensile surface. The size is approximately thirty 

 inches from nose to tip of tail ; tail, eleven inches. It is found 

 in most of Australia. 



The Striped Possum (Dactylopsila) is distinctly marked 

 lengthwise with three broad black stripes on a whitish gray 

 ground color — a very conspicuous pattern. The tail is whitish. 



Fig. 10 — Striped Possum 



The head and ears are formed much like those of the common 

 possum but the tail has even less tactile surface; the fourth 

 finger of the hand is the longest. The total length is about 

 twenty inches, of which nearly one-half is tail. The animal is 

 nocturnal ; its food is made up of fruit and insects. New Guinea 

 is the headquarters of this species, a single race being found 

 in northern Queensland. 



A related striped possum {Dactylonax)^ found only in New 

 Guinea, has the fourth finger of the hand drawn out into a 

 slender probe-like structure nearly twice as long as the cor- 

 responding finger of Dactylopsila. This finger may perhaps 



