SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 23 



consuming huge amounts of food, mainly worms and insects, and 

 spends much of its time digging. 



Possums, Cuscuses, Flying Phalangers. 

 Family Phalangerid^ 



This large family includes the following general types of 

 marsupials : possums, striped possums, mouse possums, cuscuses, 

 ring-tails, flying possums or gliders, and honey possum. Some 

 are squirrel-like, others lemur-like, others mouse-like, and yet 

 others resemble flying squirrels. 



The Australian Possum (Trichosurus) is one of the best- 

 known members of the family. Its coat has been used exten- 



Fig. 9 — Aicstralian Possum 



sively in the fur business. Although somewhat squirrel-like, 

 these animals differ by their prehensile or grasping tails and 

 by their large, cat-like ears and pointed noses. The head re- 

 sembles that of our ring-tailed cat of the southwestern United 

 States. The color is highly variable — gray in some races, black- 

 ish brown in others. The fur of the body and tail is dense except 



