﻿THE WOMBATS. 1 23 



in the northern hemisphere by the Marmots and in South 

 America by the Viscachas, both of which are members of the 

 Rodent ia. In this instance, indeed, the resemblance is not 

 confined to similarity of habits, since the Wombats not only 

 resemble Marmots (save for their rudimentary tails), but also 

 simulate them to a great extent in the structure and arrange- 

 ment of their teeth, more especially in the form and number of 

 their incisors, and in the total absence of canines. They thus 

 afford an excellent instance of that parallelism in development 

 which we have already alluded to as occurring among totally 



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Side View of the Teeth of Wombat. 



different groups of animals, in the case of those adapted to 

 similar modes of life and hving under similar surroundings. 

 Such a parallelism is, however, wanting in the case of the 

 Kangaroos and Wallabies, which may be regarded as represent- 

 ing in the Australian economy of nature the Ruminants of the 

 Old W^orld, since there is no similarity in the structure of the 

 members of the two groups. The same holds good with re- 

 gard to the Phalangers, which may be regarded as the repre- 

 sentatives in Australia of both the Squirrels, Lemurs, and 

 Monkeys of other regions. That the Flying Phalangers, which 

 represent the Flying Squirrels of the Oriental Region and .Ifrica, 



