﻿78 Allen's naturalist's library. 



gers, like their analogues the Flying Squirrels, have developed 

 their parachutes, independently of one another, from distinct 

 groups of their non-volant cousins. In the case of the three 

 genera of the flying forms, this is proved by the circum- 

 stance that while their relationship to one another is of the 

 most distant nature, each is closely allied to a non-flying 

 genus. 



While the great majority of the members of the family are 

 purely vegetable feeders, subsisting chiefly on leaves and fruits, 

 a few feed either entirely or partially on insects, while others 

 have taken to a diet of flesh. 



THE KOALAS. GENUS PHASCOLARCTUS. 

 Phascolarctos, Blainville, Bull. Soc. Philom., i8i6, p. no. 



The genus Phascolardus^ which is represented by a single 

 Australian species, is also the type of the first sub-family 

 (Phascolarcti7icB)^ the distinctive characters of which are as 

 follows : — 



Tail wanting ; muzzle short and broad ; tongue not extensile ; 

 cheeks furnished with pouches ; intestine with a blind appen- 

 dage, or caecum ; teeth large ; only one premolar in the upper 

 jaw. 



The genus itself may be defined by the following assemblage 

 of characters : — 



Size large; formvery stout and clumsy; fur thick and woolly ; 

 ears large and thickly furred ; fore toes sub-equal, their relative 

 lengths in the order 4, 3, 5, 2, i, and the first and second op- 

 posable to the rest ; claws thick, strong, and sharp ; soles of 

 both pairs of feet granulated, without striated pads. Two teats ; 

 eleven pairs of ribs. Upper molar teeth with low squared 

 crowns, carrying curved crests, of which the convexity is turned 

 outwards. 



