﻿120 Allen's naturalists library. 



one known genus : Size small ; form slender ; head long and 

 narrow; ears of moderate size, thinly haired; soles of feet 

 naked and granulated. Claws rudimentary, except those of the 

 united second and third toes of the hind foot ; tail long, thinly 

 haired, and prehensile. Four teats. Upper canine and lower 

 incisor teeth comparatively well-developed ; at most but three 

 pairs of molar teeth, and the premolars represented only by the 

 last of the series in the upper jaw. The slender lower jaw is 

 remarkable among Marsupials for the absence of any inflection 

 of its hinder angle — a feature doubtless due to extreme 

 specialisation and the general feebleness of the skull and jaws. 



THE LONG-SNOUTED PHALANGER. TARSIPES ROSTRATUS. 



Tarsipes rostratus, Gervais and Verreaux, Proc. Zool. Soc, 

 1842, p. i; Thomas, Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 133 

 (1888). 



Tarsipes spenserm^ Gray, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. i., p. 40 

 (1842). 



Characters. — Fur short, coarse, and rough ; naked area of 

 nose sharply defined, and finely granulated. General colour 

 grey, striped with black or brown; under-parts yellowish-white; 

 an indistinct pale area round each eye ; legs grey ; feet white ; 

 ears rounded ; soles of feet with five pads ; fourth and fifth 

 toes of hind foot disproportionately long, and almost clawless, 

 like the first toe ; second and third toes of hind foot very com- 

 pletely united. Tail brown above, white or pale yellow on the 

 sides and below, with the extreme tip naked. Length of head 

 and body about 3 inches ; of tail 4 inches. 



P^'stribution. — West Australia. 



Habits. — The Long-snouted Phalanger, which derives its scien- 

 tific name from a certain resemblance of its hind feet to those 



