﻿2 22 ALLEN S NATURALIST S LIBRARY. 



Chironectes yapock, Desmarest, Mammalogie, vol. i., p. 261 



(1820). 



{Plate XXXVI.) 



Characters. — Size about equal to that of the common Opossum ; 

 fur very thick, close, and woolly, having a few longer straight 

 hairs intermingled with the shorter ones ; naked portion of 

 muzzle with a short backward extension in the middle line ; 

 ears large and rounded, with the anterior basal projection rudi- 

 mental. Face, in addition to the usual " whiskers " on the 

 sides of the muzzle, with a series of tufts of long and stout 

 bristles, one pair of which is situated above the eyes, another 

 in front of and below the eyes, and a single median one on 

 the throat. General colour greyish-white, marbled with dark 

 brown ; the muzzle, and a streak running through each eye to 

 below the ear, as well as the top of the crown of the head, deep 

 blackish-brown, a conspicuous greyish-white crescentoid band 

 passing above the eyes to the bases of the ears ; on the back a 

 black stripe running from the head to the root of the tail, and 

 spreading out on the sides into four well-defined patches, of 

 which one is situated on the shoulder, another in the middle 

 of the back, the third on the loins, and the fourth on the rump, 

 the ground-colour between them being slaty grey ; under-parts 

 and inner sides of the legs white ; feet brown and nearly naked, 

 with the toes silvery grey. Soles of feet with a uniform fine 

 granulation, the pads being almost wanting. Tail long and 

 powerful, furred for the basal one or two inches, and the fur 

 extending further on the upper and lower surfaces than on the 

 sides ; elsewhere naked and coarsely scaled, the basal portion 

 being black, and the extremity yellowish. Length of head and 

 body about 14 inches ; of tail 15^ inches. 



Distribution. — Guatemala to South Brazil. 



Habits. — The Yapock, or Water-Opossum, which may be 

 compared in size, as also to some extent in form and proportions, 



