648 



COLLEGE ZOOLOGY 



with the mother for about two- months, at first in the pouch 

 and later often riding about on her back. Opossums are used 

 as food in the south, and, when properly roasted, are excellent. 



Other American marsupials that should be mentioned are the 

 murine opossum, Marmosa murina, which is no bigger than a 

 mouse; and the yapock, the only member of the genus Chiro- 



nectes, which is the size of a 

 rat, has webbed feet, and 

 lives in the water, catching 

 small fish, crustaceans, and 

 aquatic insects. 



The kangaroos and wal- 

 labies (MACROPODID.E) are 

 represented by about sixty 

 species distributed all over 

 the Australian region. They 

 range in size from four or 

 five feet in height to that 

 of a small rabbit. The fore 

 limbs are very small and are 

 used principally for grasping 

 (Fig. 515), whereas the hind 

 limbs and tail are strongly 

 developed, enabling the 

 animals to move about 

 rapidly by a series of leaps. 

 The kangaroos are vege- 

 tarians, feeding on grass, herbs, and roots. Most of them are 

 terrestrial, but a few are arboreal. The natives of Australia 

 hunt them both for sport and' for food. In some localities 

 they are injurious, since they eat the grass necessary for feeding 

 the cattle and sheep. 



The other families of marsupials are with the exception of the 

 EPANORTHID.E, which contains the South American genus 

 Coenolestes, confined to the Australian region. They are (i) 



FIG. 515. The rock wallaby, Petrogale 

 xanthopus, with young in pouch. (From 

 Shipley and MacBride, after Vogt and 

 Specht.) 



