222 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 
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 1534 inches. 
Distribution —Guatemala to South Brazil. 
Habits—The VYapock, or Water-Opossum, which may be 
compared in size, as also to some extent in form and proportions, . 
