MARSfPIATA. 



MAUSUPIATA. 



procured by setting a trap in the mo*t unfrequented parts of 

 the woods, baited with raw fl. h, all kinds of which they rat indis- 

 criminately and vorciouly ; they also, it is probable, prey on dead 

 8b, blubber, Ac., as their track* are frequeutly found on the sands of 

 the sea-shore. In a state of confinement they appear to be untame- 

 ably sarage; biting severely, and uttering at the same time a low 

 yelling growl. A male and female, which I kept for a couple of 

 month* chained together in an empty cask, were continually fighting ; 

 their quarrels began as soon as it was dark (as they slept all day), 

 and continued throughout the night almoct without intermission, 

 accompanied with a kind of hollow barking, not unlike a dog, and 

 sometime* a sudden kind of snorting, as if the breath was retained a 

 considerable time, and then suddenly expelled. The female generally 

 conquered. They frequently sat on their hind parts, and used their 

 fore paws to convey food to their mouths. The muscles of their jaws 

 were very strong, as they cracked the largest bones with ease asunder ; 

 and many of their actions, as well as their gait, strikingly resembled 

 thoM of the bear. Its vulgar name is the Native Devil." 



A specimen in the Gardens of the Zoological Society was a snarling 

 surly animal. 



Professor Owen's account of the dissection of A Dati/uriu macruria, 

 or Long-Tailed Dasyurus (Spotted Martin of Phillips'a ' Voyage'), will 

 be found in the ' Zoological Proceedings' for 1835. 



Pkaicoyalr (Temmiuck). Differing from Dtayunu, 

 Dental Formula : 



, especially in ita 



Incisors,-?; Canines, LJ ; 

 o 1 1 



Molars, "L^L = 46. 



P. ptnicillala (Didtlphii pentcillatut of Shaw, Daeyurut penicillatut 

 of Geoffrey). Size rather larger than that of the Brown Rat (.Vtw 

 decmmantu) ; tail very bushy ; fur uniform, ash-colour, whitUh 

 beneath, short, woolly, and very thick. 



This Phnscognle lives on trees in Australia. 





rhucomle (Pluurofale penicillala}. 



Myrmteebiia (\Vaterhoinc). Fore feet with five toes; hind feet 

 with four toes, all free ; head elongated, snout produced ; ears moderate, 

 narrower, and subacuU at the apex ; body slender ; tail moderate. 

 Dental Formula: 



Incisors, 1; Canines, !nl; Pseudo-Molars, 5^?; Molars, ^=52. 



e i i 6 o 



Skull tnd loner jaw of Mfrmrcotiia. 



M.faKtatvt. Fore part of the body reddish, gradually M. n.l. 1 

 into the black, which i* the prevailing colour of the posterior half, 



and which is adorned with nine white bands. Fur of two kinds: 

 under hair scanty and whitish-gray ; upper hair rather coarse, short, 

 and ndpreued on the anterior parts ; long on the posterior and under 

 parts ; hairs on the anterior part of the back generally black at the 

 base and fulvous at the apex ; those on the head very short, brownish 

 above, being composed of a mixture of black, fulvous, and a few 

 white hairs ; a few black hairs spring from the sides of the muzzle 

 and under each eye; hair of the tail long and rather bushy; most of 

 the hairs on the under part fulvous at the base and white at the tip ; 

 those on the under side of the tail generally black at the bate and 

 white at the apex. Length from nose to root of tail 10 inches ; length 

 of tail to the end of the hair 7 inches. 



UyrmceMua fasciatus. \VateiboUM. 



Mr. Watsrhouse, in his paper in the ' Transactions of the Zoological 

 Society,' descriptive of this animal, gives the following account of the 

 two specimens on which his description ia founded. The first was 

 procured by Lieutenant Dale, of Liverpool, whilst on an exploring 

 party in the interior of the country at the Swan River Settlement, and 

 was discovered about 90 miles to the south-east of the mouth of that 

 river. Two of these animals, according to Lieutenant Dale, were seen 

 within a few miles of each other ; they were first observed on the 

 ground, and on being pursued both directed their flight to some 

 hollow trees which were near. The party succeeded in capturing one 

 of them ; the other was unfortunately burnt to death in their endea- 

 vour to dislodge it by fumigating the hollow tree in which it had 

 taken refuge. The country in which they were found abounded in 

 decayed trees and ant-hills. Mr. Waterhouse was informed that the 

 second individual was found in Van Diemen'a Land (but he suspects 

 some mistake here), and that others similar to it had bsen seen in the 

 act of burrowing or digging at the roots of trees in search after 

 insects. Their favourite haunts are elated to be in those situations 

 in which the Port Jackson willow abounds. 



Mr. Waterhouse observes, that although in the structure of the 

 skull M. fatciatut evinces an affinity to Phascogale, it differs from 

 that genus in the want of a thumb to the hind feet, and in the strength 

 and larger size of the claws of the fore feet, which nre shaped some- 

 what like those in the genus Htrpatu, and are evidently suited to 

 burrowing. The fore legs are also stouter in proportion, and the feet 

 are stronger. In their narrow and pointed shape, the ears, he remarks, 

 resemble those of Peramele* nasulut. and differ from those of Phasco- 

 gale; they also differ in being tolerably well clothed with hairs. 

 Mr. Waterhouse imagines that in the present animal he can perceive a 

 slight approach to the Edentate Marsupialia, or Monotrcma, and he 

 thinks that analogically it may be compared to the genus Tupaia 

 among the true latectivora, bearing a somewhat similar connection 

 with Echidna and Ornilhorlii/ncliiu to that which exists between the 

 last-mentioned genus and the genera Krinaceiu and Mygale. In con- 

 clusion, he adds that it muet be allowed that there is a greater 

 dissimilarity in structure between the last-mentioned genus and the 

 genera Myrmecobitu and Monoli-ema than between Tupaia and Mygale; 

 we are however prepared for thin, by the comparatively sudden tran- 

 sitions from one form to another which we find in the Marnipialia, 

 which group, it must be borne in mind, stands low in the grade 

 of organisation among the Mammalia. ('Zoological Transactions,' 

 vol. ii.) 



Ckaroptu (Ogilby). On March 13th, 1838, Mr. Ogilby exhibited to 

 a meeting of the Zoological Society of London a drawing made by 

 .Sir Thomas Mitchell of a Marsupial animal found by that officer on 

 the banks of the river Murray, during his journey in the interior 

 of New South Wales. Mr. Ogilby stated his original belief that the 

 animal in question belonged to the genus Ptramtlet, under which 

 impression be had proposed to name it P. ccatulatut, from its entire 

 want of tail, a character found in no other species of the same group ; 

 but a drawing of the fore foot, afterwards found by Sir Thomas 

 Mitchell, and likewise exhibited to the Society on the present occasion, 

 had considerably shaken this first opinion, and induced Mr. Ogilby to 

 sunpect that the animal may eventually form the type of a new genus. 

 According to Sir Thomas Mitchell's drawing, and the notes which ho 

 took at the time of examining the specimen, it would appear that 

 there were only two toes on the fore feet, which were described as 

 having been so perfectly similar to those of a pig as to have procured 



