760 MARSUPIALIA. 



The animals comprised in it are tailless, terrestrial burrowing animals, 

 about the size of a badger, but feeding on roots and grass. 



GENUS PHASCOLOMYS. 



The Wombat, Phascolomys ursimis (Plate LXIII), is popularly styled 

 the Australian Badger. In all its exterior appearance it is a rodent ; in 

 its internal anatomy it approximates to the beaver. 



Its fur is warm, long, and very harsh to the touch, and its color is 

 gray, mottled with black and white. The under parts of the body are 

 grayish-white, and the feet are black. The muzzle is very broad and 

 thick. The length of the animal is about three feet, the head measuring 

 seven inches. 



It is nocturnal in its habits, living during the day in the depths of a 

 capacious burrow. 



Its teeth present a curious resemblance to those of the rodent animals, 

 and its feet are broad, and provided with very strong claws, that are 

 formed for digging in the earth. There are five toes to each foot, but 

 the thumb of the hinder feet is extremely small, and devoid of a claw. 

 This animal is remarkable for possessing fifteen pairs of ribs — in one case 

 sixteen pairs of ribs were found — only six pairs of which reach the 

 breast-bone. 



