MARSUPIATA. 



MAKSUPIATA. 



the Pbalanger lUnmrd of the Ktvneh, Bruno of Vicq-d'Ajryr, and 

 WhaUpooroo of the native*. It is found in Australia, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Port Jactaoo. 



Sub genu. Cotfut (Uce-pede). Tail prehensile, but in great part 

 naked, and covered with rugosities; ear* very abort. Dental 

 Formula : 



Incison, ?. ; Canines, 0; Molar., t | - 40. 

 " 



(Leawn.) 

 ThU genus ii peculiar to the Western Polynesia, or 



ThU gen 



C. m**la*H (Didtlpkn Oriental* of Qmelin ; Ouctu A M*auit of 

 UeepMe; Mo&npu'a .ocWo/a of Oeoffroy). This species, which a 

 named Coeaooes at the Moluccas, according to Valentyn, varies much 

 In ita colouring with reference to MX and age. M. Lesson, who , found 

 h at Wagiou. where the native, call it Scham-Scham, eays that its 

 fur. which U thick and woolly, U generally whitish, covered with 

 isolated brown spots, aometimea running together. The same author 

 itatea that iU habiU are slow and nocturnal, and that it lives on fruits 

 in the equatorial forests of the great Mollucca and Papuan islands. 



subject to tome variation, and bocause .oologista are by no mean. 

 agreed with reject to it* exact deBnition. The teeth of the Squirre 



6u Will! rnpOC% U) II* UJMM-fc ucuuiviv/u. i 



aur** agree generally, according to M. F. Cuvier, with tho*e of the 



Ctuna maculalut. 



Pdauna (Shaw). Head rather short ; ears email and hair; ; skin 

 of the flanks extended between the anterior and posterior limbe, and 

 covered with hair ; tail not strictly prqhensilc. Dental Formula : 



Incisors, ; Canines, ; Molars, ? < 



It will be observed that the number of lower molar teeth given in 

 the cut amounts only to S, and consequently does not correspond with 

 the formula above given, or with that stated by F. Cuvier himself, 

 who makes the total number of teeth 22 in the upper jaw and 16 in 

 the lower, and the number of upper false molars 8, and of molars 8 

 also ; the number of lower molars being 6 false and 8 true, 88 in all. 

 He tells us that this form of dentition is taken from Phalamjitla 

 tW-ii, Pctaunu Tayiuutoida, " Le Phalangor Didelphoide, or Lo 

 Macraure, of M. Oeofl'roy, and a species which has no name." 



Mr. Bennett, who in common with Cuvier, Deamarest, and Lemon, 

 has placed the interesting species which we have chosen as the example 

 under the genus Petanni, remarks that F. Cuvier, relying solely 

 on the discrepancy or agreement of the dentary systems, and putting 

 entirely out of question all consideration of other and essential points 

 of structure, has reunited the old genus Pkalattguta, in order again 

 to subdivide it into two incongruous and heterogeneous group. ; in 

 the on* confounding two well marked specie* of flying Pelauri not 

 only with the climbing Pkalanguta of Australia, but with the naked- 

 tailed and strictlv prehensile Couscous of the Moluccas ; repaying the 

 other group, which he had so unnecessarily dismembered, by the 

 addition of a true Phalangiita, whose only pretensions to such an 

 association are made to dr|wnd on a somewhat similar arrangement of 

 the teeth. "By thus confining himself to a single character," continues 

 Mr. Bennett, " be has broken up the regular eerie* of affinities which 

 connected together three marked but still closely allied gradation, of 

 form, to substitute an arrangement which has no other recommenda- 

 tion than the theoretic views of it* author. In such a case we cannot 

 heajtat* in giving to the organs of locomotion, combined with the 

 general habit, that precedence before those of mastication, which, 

 under other circumstance*, we are generally in the habit of conceding 

 to the Utter ; and we feel the lea. repugnance to adopting this course, 

 because it is admitted that tho dentary formula is in these animals 



Teeth of Fetmma. V. Cuvk r. 



Phalanyitta. They are consequently 38 in number, 20 occupying the 

 upper jaw, and 18 the lower. The former are divided by the same 

 eminent iiaturaliBt into 6 incisors, 4 canines, 2 false molars, and 

 8 true ones; the Utter consisting of 2 incisors, and no canines, 

 with 8 false and as many true molars. The dentary character of 

 the orginal species of Petaurut, which he takes as the type of his other 

 group, diners chiefly in the total want of canine teeth ; but we may 

 here be permitted to observe that it appears to us somewhat doubtful 

 how far those which ore above enumerated as such truly deserve the 

 name which has been applied to them. In every other respect the 

 little creature in question perfectly agrees with the group of animals 

 to which we have restored it ; and which ore at once characterised by 

 the broad expansion of their skin on each side of the body, extending 

 between the anterior and posterior limbs, as in the Flying Squirrels, 

 to which indeed they bear a close resemblance. In common with 

 nearly the whole of the mammiferoua quadrupeds of the country 

 which they inhabit, they possess the abdominal pouch which fixes 

 their place in the system among the marsupial animals ; and, as in 

 many of these, the thumbs of the hind-feet are long and distinctly 

 opposeable to the sole. The other toes are four in number, and fur- 

 nished with tolerably strong claws, of which the thumbs nre destitute. 

 The fore feet have long radiating toes, the middle one of which is the 

 longest, all armed with similar claws to those of the hind feet. The 

 tail is round, covered with loose hair, somewhat tapering towards tho 

 point, and not strictly prehensile, having no naked surface at its 

 extremity beneath. In size the present species is about equal to the 

 common squirrel, and its tail is rather longer than its body. lt 

 colour is delicately gray above, somewhat darker on the head, and 

 white beneath. A black line passes from the point of the nose along 

 the back towards the tail; and the lateral folds of the skin are 

 bounded in front and on the sides by a similar band, which confounds 

 itself gradually in the inside with the gray of the body, and is bordered 

 at the outer margin by a fringe of white. The eyes are each placed 

 in a spot of bUck, and a faint blackish line extends along the upper 

 surface of the hinder limbs. The tail is also of a darker hue, especially 

 towards its extremity.'' 



P. tciurtiu, Norfolk Island Flying Squirrel (the Sugar Squirrel), 

 may be taken as an example of this genus. There are three other 

 species, P. Auitralit, P. brericrpn, and P. Ariel, all from Australia. 



" I Miring the day," says Mr. Bennett, .peaking of tin- Su^ir Squirrel, 

 " the animal generally remains quietly neatled in the hollows of trccx, 

 but becomes animated as night advances, and rkims through the air, 

 supported by its lateral expansion*, half leaping, half flying from 

 branch to branch, feeding upon leaves .and insects. This peculiar 

 mode of locomotion can scarcely be considered as a true flight, inas- 

 much as the cutaneous folds which serve the purposes of wings seem 

 rather destined for the mere support of the animal in its long and 

 apparently desperate leaps, than for raising it in the air and directing 



