vil TARSIPES 145 
developed in two not very distant forms. As in the Kangaroos, 
the atlas is open below. Ph. ursinus has 15 ribs; the other species 
the normal (for Marsupials) 18. Other points of likeness will be 
mentioned under the description of the Koala. These animals 
ler Jt 
<j 
3 
eh 
Gu. 
Fic. 72.—Skull of Wombat. Phascolomys wombat. (Lateral view.) ang, Angular pro- 
cess ; cond, condyle of mandible; ex.oc, exoccipital ; ext.aud, opening of bony 
auditory meatus; ju, jugal; Zcr, lachrymal; maz, maxilla; nas, nasal ; p.macx, 
premaxilla ; sg, squamosal ; ¢y, tympanic. (From Parker and Haswell’s Zoology.) 
mainly feed upon roots ; they live in companies in burrows. There 
are three species—Ph. wrsinus, Ph. latifrons, and Ph. mitchelle. 
Ph. ursinus is Tasmanian in range, the other two species South 
Australian. 
Sub-Fam. 4. Tarsipedinae——The genus 7arsipes 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 12 C$ Pm} M#=22. The 
lower incisors are procumbent. The lower jaw, moreover, has 
not the characteristic Marsupial inflection. 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 
Myrmecobius. Like the latter also, Tarsipes has a long exsertile 
tongue, with which, however, it extracts honey from flowers. 
Probably it ‘also catches minute insects in the corollas of the 
flowers. It has been proved, 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 
