XIII 



PHYLUM CHORDATA 



467 



FIG. 104<',. Rock Wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus). (After Vogt and Specht.) 



The Bandicoots (Peramelidce) are burrowing Marsupials, the 

 size of which varies from that of a large Rat to that of a Rabbit. 

 They have an elongated pointed muzzle, and, in some oases, large 

 auditory pinnae. The tail is usually short, sometimes long. The 

 first and fifth digits of the fore-feet are vestigial or absent, the 

 remaining three nearly equally developed. In the hind-foot the 

 fourth toe is much longer and stouter than the others, while the 

 second and third are small and slender, and united together by a 

 web of skin, and the first is vestigial or absent. The marsupium 

 has its opening directed backwards. 



Notoryctes, the Marsupial Mole, is a small burrowing Marsupial, 

 with short and powerful limbs, each with five toes, the third and 

 fourth toes of the fore-foot provided with remarkable, large, flat, 

 triangular claws. The tail is short, and covered with bare skin. 

 An auditory pinna is absent and the eyes are vestigial. The 

 pouch opens backwards. 



The Wombats (Phascolomyidoe) are large, heavy, thick-bodied, 

 burrowing animals, with short flattened heads, short thick limbs, 

 provided with strong claws on all the digits except the hallux, and 



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