1438 



THE POUCHED MAMMALS, OR MARSUPIALS 



plete, with its opening directed toward the hinder end of the body. In the fore-feet 

 the three middle toes, or two of them, are of nearly equal size and furnished with 

 well-developed and somewhat curved claws, while the first and fifth toes are rudi- 

 mentary or absent. The hind-feet are constructed on the same type as in the kan- 

 garoos; the fourth toe being much larger than the others, while the second and third 

 are small, slender, and united by skin, the first being rudimental or wanting. The 

 terminal bones of the larger toes in both feet are peculiar among Marsupials in hav- 

 ing their extremities cleft by a longitudinal slit in the same manner as are those of 

 the pangolins. As regards their dentition, the bandicoots are characterized by hav- 

 ing either four or five pairs of incisor teeth in the upper jaw, and three in the lower; 



TASMANIAN WOMBAT (ON THE LEFT) AND HAIRY-NOSED WOMBAT (ON THE RIGHT). 



(One-eighth natural size.) 



while their upper molars are more squared than in the other families, with their 

 cusps arranged in the form of the letter W. The similarity between the hind-feet 

 of the bandicoots and the kangaroos is a very remarkable feature; more especially 

 if, as is now generally considered to be the case, this structure has been independ- 

 ently acquired in the two groups. 



The true bandicoots (Perameles), of which there are eleven species, 



" are characterized by having the three middle toes of the fore-foot large 



and functional, and the first and fifth present, although small and 



nailless; while on the hind- foot there is also a rudiment of the first toe. The ears, 



