1446 



THE POUCHED MAMMALS, OR MARSUPIALS 



from the other members of the family in that there are more than seven cheek-teeth 

 on each side of both the upper and lower jaws, and also in the tongue being elongated 

 and cylindrical, and thus capable of being protruded a long distance from the mouth. 

 The banded ant-eater takes its name from the broad transverse bars of white on the 

 dark ground color of the hinder half of the back and loins; the general hue of the 

 fur of the upper parts being dark chestnut red, with the under surface of the body 

 white, and a dark line running from the ear through the eye toward the nose. The 

 fur itself is of a somewhat coarse and bristly nature. In form the animal is charac- 

 terized by its long but broad head, and narrow, elongated muzzle, moderate-sized 

 and somewhat pointed ears, elongated body, short limbs, and long bushy tail. In 



BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOLOGA^E. 

 (One-half natural size. ) 



the fore- feet the first and fifth claws are considerably shorter than the others; while 

 in the hind-foot there is no external trace of the first toe. The banded ant-eater is 

 one of the few Marsupials in which the female has no pouch; the young, when first 

 born, being merely concealed by the long hair of the belly as they cling to the teats 

 (four in number). The teeth are all small, and are mostly separated from one 

 another by distinct intervals; those of the cheek series are either eight or nine in 

 number on each side of both the upper and lower jaws, thus making a total of either 

 fifty-two or fifty-six teeth a greater number than in any other existing members 

 of the order. In many of the above-mentioned points this creature differs widely 

 from all the other Dasyuridce, and there is considerable justification for the view 



