﻿THE OPOSSUMS. 203 



Characters. — Size as in D. oposswn ; form long, low, and 

 remarkably Weasel-like ; fur straight, thick, and soft. General 

 colour rich soft yellow, becoming greyish down the middle of 

 the back, and brighter on the flanks and under-parts ; face like 

 the back, without eye-spots or other conspicuous markings, 

 but some of the hairs pencilled with brown. Upper edge of 

 naked portion of muzzle with an upward rounded projection, 

 sharply differentiated from the hair of the face. Ears very 

 short and rounded, scarcely appearing above the level of the 

 fur, the inner edge with a long conical projection at the base, 

 and their substance thick, fleshy, and covered, except on the 

 margins, with dark yellow hairs. Pouch wanting. Teats nine. 

 Limbs very short, coloured like the body, but the feet browner; 

 feet short, with the pads small and narrow, and the outermost 

 hind toe reaching only to the middle of the first joint of the 

 fourth. Tail extremely thickened at the base, where it ap- 

 pears to pass imperceptibly into the body ; its basal half haired 

 like the body, elsewhere short-haired, except for some two inches 

 of the lower surface of the tip, where it is naked ; brown or 

 black at the base, and white at the tip. Size very variable ; 

 the length of head and body in one specimen about 10^ inches, 

 and of tail 8^ inches ; while in another the corresponding 

 dimensions are 15}^ and 10^ inches. 



Distribution. — Guiana and South Brazil, unknown in the inter- 

 mediate districts, and Argentina. 



This species may be easily recognised by its Weasel -like 

 form, uniformly coloured head, short ears, and thick hairy tail. 

 The variation in size is very remarkable, being so great that 

 some specimens are double the bulk of others of the same 

 sex ; the Brazilian examples being, according to Mr. Thomas, 

 generally much larger than those from Guiana. Didelphys 

 turneri was founded on an abnormal specimen with only four 

 pairs of upper incisor teeth. 



