490 



PORCULINE OPOSSUM. 



Didelphis Obesula. D. subferruginea,' subtus albescens, cauda 

 longiuscula, pedibus anticis pentadactylis, ungue exteriore utrin- 

 que brevissimo, posticis tetradactylis, digitis interioribus unitis. 



Subferruginous Opossum, whitish beneath, with longish tail; 

 the fore feet pentadactylous, with very small exterior claws : 

 the hind feet tetradactylous, with the two interior toes united. 

 Naturalist's Miscellany, No. 96. t. 298. 



A SPECIMEN of this is preserved in Mr. Hun- 

 ter's Museum. It is about the size of a half- 

 grown domestic rat, and is remarkable for a thicker 

 or more corpulent habit than most others of the 

 genus. The hind legs are considerably longer 

 than the fore legs, and have in miniature the 

 form of those of the Kangaroo and some other 

 Australasian quadrupeds ; though the middle claws 

 are far less in proportion : the interior ones are 

 double, or both covered by a common skin. The 

 colour of this species is a pale yellow-brown, paler 

 and inclining- to whitish beneath : and its hair is 



O 



of a coarser or more harsh appearance than in the 

 rest of the small Opossums : the ears are round- 

 ed: the tail rather long. When viewed in a cur- 

 sory manner, the animal bears a distant resem- 

 blance to a pig in miniature. 



