TARSIPES 



145 



developed in two not very distant fonnn. As in the Kangaroos, 

 the atlas is open Ijelow. Fh. urainas has 15 riljs ; the other species 

 the normal (for Marsupials) 13. Other points of likeness will he 

 mentioned imder the description of the Koala. These animals 



Icr ,/" 



-eart.aud. 



Fig. 72. — Skull of Wombat. Phascolomys ivomhat. (Lateral view. ) «'/ir/, Angular pro- 

 cess ; cond, condyle of mandible ; ex.oc, exoccipital ; I'xt.wud, opening of bony 

 auditory meatus ; ju, jugal ; Icr, laclirynial ; viax, maxilla ; nas, nasal ; p.max, 

 premaxilla ; sq, squamosal ; fy, tympanic. (From Parker and Haswell's Zonloijij. ) 



mainly feed upon roots ; they live in companies in burrows. There 

 are three species — Fh. ursinus, Fh. latifrons, and Fh. initchelli. 

 Fh. ursinus is Tasmanian in range, the other two species South 

 Australian. 



Sub-Fam. 4. Tarsipedinae. — The genus Tarsvpes ought per- 

 haps to be removed from the present family. There is but a 

 single species, which is a small creature of 7 inches in total 

 length, of which the tail measures 4 inches. The teeth are 

 much dwindled, the formula being I f C L I'm ^ M |= 22. The 

 lower incisors are procumbent. The lower jaw, moreover, has 

 not the characteristic Marsupial infection. The intestinal canal 

 is without the caecum present in the remaining Phalangeridae. 

 It is a curious fact that this aberrant little Phalanger should 

 come from Western Australia, like the even more aberrant 

 Myrmecohius. Like tlie latter also, Tarsvpes has a long exsertile 

 tongue, with which, however, it extracts honey from Howers. 

 Probably it also catches minute insects in the corollas of the 

 flowers. It has been pro^-ed, in fact, that in captivity at any 

 rate the animal is insectivorous ; for it has been known to 

 eat moths. 



Fam. 3. Epanorthidae. — The extinct Epanorthidae of Pata- 



VOL. X L 



