PLANT-EATING MAMMALS 



181 



though quite distinct from the true Opossums of America. There 

 are numerous species, some small, others moderately large, with 

 thick soft fur, and in most cases a bushy tail, which may give a 

 squirrel-like appearance to those of lesser size. Both fore- and 

 hind-paws are adapted to climbing, the thumb or great toe, as 

 the case may be, possessing the power of opposing itself to the 

 other digits. In some 

 cases the long tail is 

 grasping or prehensile 

 and of material aid 

 in progression among 

 trees. The cheek-teeth 

 are grinders with broad- 

 ridged crowns, and the 

 canines are not usually 

 prominent. A some- 

 what aberrant member 

 of the group is the Koala 

 (Phascolarctos) (fig. 42 6), 

 a clumsy-looking tailless 

 form, the appearance of 

 which has earned for it 

 the name of " native 

 bear ". The fore-paws 

 are here specialized as 

 grasping organs by an 

 arrangement which has 

 been compared to that 

 found among Chame- 

 leons (see p. 74). The 

 thumb and first finger 

 are bound up together by skin, and are jointly opposable to the 

 other digits. The middle incisors above and below resemble those 

 of rodents, and are much larger than the rest of the front teeth, 

 and, among the cheek-teeth, the hinder series or molars possess 

 broad crowns studded with blunt tubercles. 



One of the most interesting members of this family is the 

 Long-snouted Phalanger ( Tarsipes rostratus} (fig. 427) of Western 

 Australia, a diminutive tree -inhabiting creature which feeds at 

 night. It looks something like a mouse with a long nose, and 



Fig. 427. The Long-snouted Phalanger (Tarsipes restrains] 



