﻿132 alt.en's naturatjst's library. 



foot was long thought to indicate afifinitv witli the Diprotodont 

 sub-division; but, as Mr. '1 homas rightly observes, judging from 

 the wholly Polyprotodont character of the rest of their organisa- 

 tion, even including the bones of the ankle, which present a 

 much greater resemblance to those of the Dasyures than to 

 those of the Phalangers, it seems probable that this view is 

 erroneous, and that, as already mentioned, the syndactylous 

 hind foot has been independently developed in the two groups. 

 We must accordingly regard the Bandicoots as a highly specia- 

 lised offshoot from the Dasyures. 



In habits the Bandicoots are fossorial and insectivorous, 

 although many subsist on a mixed diet. 



THE RAERIT-BANDICOOTS. GENUS PERAGALE. 



Feragalea, Gray, in Grey's Australia, Appendix, vol. ii., p. 401 

 "(1 841). 



Form light and delicate ; muzzle long and narrow ; ears 

 very long ; fore feet with the first and third toes rudimentary 

 and clawless, and the three middle ones long and furnished 

 with strong curved claws ; no trace of the first toe (hallux) of 

 the hind foot externally ; hind limbs much longer than the 

 front pair ; soles of hind feet hairy ; tail long, and distinctly 

 crested on the upper surface of the terminal half. Five pairs 

 of upper and three of lower incisor teeth ; molars quadrangu- 

 lar or rounded in section, but differing markedly in structure 

 in the two species of the genus. 



The Rabbit-Bandicoots are confined to Australia, exclusive 

 of Tasmania, and are omnivorous in their diet. 



T. COMMON RABBIT-BANDICOOT. PERAGALE LAGOTIS. 



Perameles {Macrotis) lagotis, Reid, Proc. Zool. Sue, 1836, p. 

 129. 



