PHALASGISTA. MAMMALIA. Ill 



-, or f-, molars f-f, or |-f,=r38 or 40. Forehead 

 convex ; feet pentadactyle, not united to the body by the 

 skin of the flanks ; anterior toes separate, armed with strong 

 crooked nails ; posterior with a large nailless thumb ; tail na- 

 ked, or covered with hairs ; abdominal pouch in the females. 

 * Tail naked, scaly, and prehensile. 



P. maculata, Geoff. (Didclphis orientalis, Lin.) Fur whitish, spot- 

 ted with brown or black ; size of a cat. Java Buff- xiii. 1. 1 1. 



P. rufa, Geoff. ( Did. orientalis, Lin.) Fur reddish or whitish, with 

 a darker dorsal line. Java. Buff. xiii. t. 10. 



P. Papuensis, Desm. Fur gray, yellowish, white beneath ; ears 

 very small, hairy. New Guinea. 



P. ursina, Tern. Fur thick, black, with a yellowish shade. Tern. 

 Mam. t. 8. 



P. Chrysorrhos, Tern. Fur blackish gray, with a black line on each 

 flank, thick, cottony ; head pale ash-gray ; rump and tip of the tail 

 golden yellow. Island of Celebes Tern. Mam. p. 12. 



** Tail hairy. 



P. vulpina, Desm. The Lemurine Opossum. Fur grayish brown 

 above ; yellow gray on the head and shoulders ; grayish beneath ; 

 tail tufted; tip black. New Holland. Shaw, i. pi. 110. 



P. Cookii, Cuv. Desm. Fur brown, or reddish gray above, white 

 beneath ; tail brown ; the tip white ; size of the polecat. Van 

 Dieman's Land. Cook's Voy. iv. pi. 8. 



P. nana, Geoff. Desm. Fur reddish gray above, white below ; tail 

 brown. Van Dieman's Land. Desm. 268. 



Gen. 86. PETAUKISTA, Cuv. Geoff. Didelphis, Shaw. 



Incisors f , canines J-J, or J-J, molars g-g, or |-g, = 32 or 

 34. Head rather long; eyes small; ears long; feet short, 

 pentadactyle ; the hinder ones with a large nailless thumb, 

 and the two first toes short and united ; nails compressed, 

 arched, and very strong ; skin of the sides extended, and 

 uniting the extremities, so as to form a kind of parachute ; 

 tail long, hairy, not prehensile. 



* Tail round. 



P. taguanoides, Desm. (Didelph. petaurus, Shaw.) Fur very soft, 

 gray brown above ; throat and breast white j tail brown, paler at 

 the base. New Holland Sham, i. t. 112. 



P. macroura, Desm. (Did. macroura, Shaw.) Fur grayish brown 

 above, whitish beneath ; tail slender, longer than the body. New 

 Holland. Shaw, i. pi. 113. 



P.Jlaviventer, Geoff. Desm. Fur chestnut brown above, yellowish 

 white beneath ; tail round, a little longer than the body. New 

 Holland. Desm. 269. 



