376 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Phttt kj If. Savillt-KM, F.Z.S. 



BRUSH-TAILED POUCHED MOUSE, OR 

 PHASCOGALE 



A slender and graceful animal, the largest of the thirteen known species, and 

 about the size of an ordinary cat 



here illustrated, from the neighbourhood 

 of Broome, in the farthest north or 

 Kimberley district of Western Australia. 

 This specimen, which was caught alive 

 in a rat trap, exhibited astonishingly po- 

 tent gnawing powers, almost succeeding 

 one night in eating its way through the 

 wooden box in which it was temporarily 

 confined. The habits of this species are 

 omnivorous, and chiefly akin to those of 

 the ordinary rats, it being accustomed 

 to prowl round the out-buildings at 

 night, picking up any unconsidered tri- 

 fles in the way of food that may be left 

 unprotected. 



Many of the smaller members of 

 this tribe are no larger than mice ; and 

 in one form, known as the JERBOA 

 POUCHED M.OUSE,inhabitingQueensland 

 and New South Wales, the hind limbs 

 are abnormally prolonged, and the ani- 

 mal progresses by leaps and bounds, after 

 the fashion of the true jerboas, or its 

 nearer relatives, the ordinary kangaroos 

 and rat-kangaroos. 



THE BANDED ANT-EATER 



One of the most interesting from 

 the zoologist's standpoint, and the last on 

 our list of the Australian marsupials, is 

 the little creature, limited in its habitat 

 to Western Australia, locally known as the SQUIRREL. The BANDED ANT-EATER, with reference 

 to its striped ornamentation and ant-eating habits, is the name by which it is usually chronicled 

 in natural history works. In size and shape, except for its more pointed snout, its squirrel- 

 like aspect is certainly somewhat striking. Like the true ant-eaters of the Edentate Mammalian 

 Order, it, however, possesses a long protrusile tongue, with which it is accustomed in a similar 

 manner to lick up the ants which constitute its main food-supply. 



The most interesting biological peculiarity of this animal is the abnormal development 

 of its teeth. These number as many as from fifty-two to fifty-six, and exceed the dental 

 formula of any other known existing marsupial. The usual colour of this interesting little 

 animal is a warm chestnut-brown, banded transversely over the back with white, these stripes 

 being widest and most conspicuous over the hindquarters. This somewhat paradoxical marsupial 

 possesses no pouch, the young, when first born and attached to the nipples in the manner 

 characteristic of ordinary marsupials, being covered over and concealed among the longer hairs 

 that clothe the abdominal region. In the dasyures, or native cats, previously described, the 

 pouch exists only in a rudimentary condition, its function being fulfilled by merely a few 

 skin-folds ; while in the " tiger " and native devil the pouch, contrary to that of the kangaroos, 

 opens backwards. 



In disposition the banded ant-eater presents a marked contrast to that of many of the 

 preceding types. Caught in its native habitat, it does not attempt to bite, and soon becomes 

 reconciled to captivity. The peculiar nature of its diet, however, militates against its being 

 easily transported over-sea from the Antipodes. 



