124 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
resemble the latter in having a parachute-like expansion of skin 
along the flanks, is indeed true; but this can scarcely be re- 
garded as an instance of parallelism in its proper sense, since it 
is obvious that without the special development of the fore 
limbs characterising the Bats, there is no method by which 
Mammals could take flying leaps save by such a development 
of the skin on the sides of the body. 
As a family, the Wombats are distinguished by the following 
combination of characters :— 
Form stout and clumsy ; muzzle short and broad ; limbs sub- 
equal, thick, short, and strong ; fore feet with five subequal toes, 
each furnished with a powerful claw ; in the hind feet the first 
toe, or hallux, short and clawless, the remainder with long, 
curved claws, the second and third of the series being imper- 
fectly united in a common membrane. Tail rudimental; 
stomach simple ; intestine with a blind appendage, or czecum. 
Teeth growing continuously, and thus never forming roots ; a 
single pair of incisors in each jaw, which are large, curved, 
strong, and chisel-like, having enamel only on their front and 
lateral surfaces; no canines. Cheek-teeth five in number, and 
separated by a long gap from the incisors; the molars strongly 
curved, with two lobes, the convexity being internal in those of 
the upper, and in the opposite direction in those of the lower : 
jaw; premolar with only a single lobe, but otherwise similar to 
the molars. 
The Wombats are confined to Australia and Tasmania south 
of the tropics; and in habits are digging and root-eating 
animals. 
WOMBATS. GENUS PHASCOLOMYS. 
Phascolomys, Geoffr., Ann. Muséum, vol ii., p. 364 (1803). 
The three species of Wombat are included in this genus, 
