﻿lOO ALLEN'S naturalist's LIBRARY. 



X. FORBES'S PHALANGER. PSEUDOCHIRUS FORBESL 



Pseiidochirus forbesi, Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, 

 vol. xix., p. 146 (1887) ; id. Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 183 

 (1888). 



Characters. — May be distinguished from the last by the 

 absence of a dark streak on the forehead, and the presence of 

 a pale spot below the ear. 



Distrrjution. — South-eastern New Guinea. 



Writing of the type specimen, its describer observes : — 

 "This very handsome species, the smallest of the genus, is the 

 only one that has yet been discovered anywhere in New Guinea, 

 except in the north-west. While agreeing very closely with 

 P. canescens in many of its characters, and forming, with that 

 species and P. schlegeli, a very well-defined section of the 

 genus, it yet differs remarkably from all in the total suppression 

 of its posterior incisors and anterior premolars." Other speci- 

 mens are, however, urgently needed in order to determine 

 whether these dental peculiarities are constant. 



THE TAGUAN PHALANGERS. GENUS PETAUROIDES. 

 Petanroides, Thomas, Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 163 (1888). 



Size large ; fur very long, soft, and silky ; ears very large, 

 oval, naked inside, hairy externally ; flanks with a parachute- 

 like expansion of skin. Claws very long, highly curved, and 

 sharply pointed ; tail long, cylindrical, and evenly bushy, with 

 the extreme tip prehensile ar.d naked inferiorly. Skull and 

 molar teeth as in Pseudochirus. 



Although very different in external appearance to the Ring- 

 tailed Phalangers, the structure of the skull and teeth in the 

 single representative of this genus clearly indicates that it must 



