﻿i88 Allen's naturalist's library. 



placed ; apertures of ears almost completely concealed by over- 

 haneins fur. The four inner toes of both fore and hind feet 

 clawed, the fifth with a short, broad, horny nail ; claws of the 

 third and fourth front toes enormously enlarged ; those of the 

 corresponding hind toes curving outwards and backwards, and 

 the toes of these feet decreasing in size from the second to the 

 fifth ; soles of both pairs of feet naked, and covered with tough, 

 leathery, wrinkled skin, traversed in the hinder pair by oblique 

 folds. Tail very short, hard, tough, and leathery, marked by 

 conspicuous rings, thick at the base, but rapidly decreasing in 

 size towards the extremity, which is blunt and knob-like. 

 Pouch opening backwards ; two minute teats. Two pairs of 

 premolar teeth in each jaw, which, like the three pairs of incisor 

 and single canine, are very minute. In the skeleton the five 

 middle vertebrae of the neck are completely welded together, 

 as are likewise certain vertebrae in the region of the haunch. 



The single representative of this genus and family, w^hich 

 has been only recently made known to science, is a burrowing, 

 Mole-iike creature, standing quite alone among the Marsu- 

 pials of Australia. That it is a primitive type is sufficiently 

 indicated by the triangular, or tritubercular form of its upper 

 molar teeth, which are quite unlike those of any other living 

 member of the order, and likewise by the presence of chevron- 

 bones beneath the vertebrae of the tail. In adaptation to its 

 particular mode of life the creature is, however, in some 

 respects markedly specialised. 



Perhaps the most remarkable feature in connection with 

 this animal is its curious resemblance, both as regards the 

 structure of its molar teeth, its external form, and its mode of 

 life, to the Golden Moles {Chrysochloris) of South Africa, 

 which belong to the insectivorous order of placental Mammals. 

 So marked, indeed, is this resemblance, that it must evidently 

 be due either to parallel development induced by similar 



