THE RAT-KANGAROOS. 63 
SY ee SD 
| sought to save their offspring was truly admirable. Although 
_ wounded, they fled with the young in their pouch, and never 
left them, until, overcome with fatigue and loss of blood, they 
could no longer carry them ; then they stopped, and, squatting 
themselves on the hind legs, helped the young to get out of the 
pouch by means of the fore feet, and sought to place them ina 
situation favourable for retreat. 
THE RAT-KANGAROOS. GENUS POTOROUS. 
Potorous, Desmarest, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., vol. SAV... bak 
| Méthod., p. 20 (1804). 
The Rat-Kangaroos, often incorrectly spoken of as Kangaroo- 
_ Rats, are represented byseveral genera, and constitute the second 
Sub-family (Potoroine) of the Macropodide, which is distin- 
guished from the Aacropodine by the following characters :— 
Size small; claws of fore feet very long, those of the three 
-median toes disproportionately larger than those of the other 
toe ; hind foot with only four toes ; tail long and hairy. Canine 
teeth always present, and generally well-developed; inner 
“upper incisor taller than either of the other two; the fourth 
premolar set in the same general line as the molars, or slightly 
bent outwards in front, and of great relative length from front 
to back; molars more or less tuberculate, decreasing in size 
from front to back of the series. The group is confined to 
Australia and Tasmania. 
_ The following distinctive features apply to the genus under 
‘consideration, dividing it from the other members of this 
group :-— 
| Size variable ; nose naked ; ears very short, rounded ; fore 
claws long and rather slender ; hind limbs not disproportion- 
ately longer than the front pair ; hind feet very short, less than 
| the length of the head, with the soles naked and coarsely 
I 
/gtanulated; tail tapering, hairy, without crest. Fourth pre- 
