536 



MAR^UPIALIA. 



and genus only. Hypsiprymnodon Ramsay, musk-kangaroo, Queens- 



land. 



Fam. 2. Phalangeridae. Arboreal, sometimes with parachute-like 

 expansions of the skin for flying leaps ; 5 fingers and toes, with nailless 

 opposable hallux ; pes syndactylous (Fig. 280) ; tail long and usually 

 prehensile ; stomach simple ; caecum present except in Tarsipes ; pouch 

 opening forwards ; dentition variable owing to the presence of minute 

 teeth which are not constant, even in the same species or on two sides 



of the same jaw ; general formula i ' f c 



p 



FIG. 281. Petaurus sciiirius, [squirrel flying-phalanger (from Flower 

 and Lydekker). 



milk 

 premolar gener- 

 ally small and 

 early deciduous ; 

 Papuan Islands, 

 Australia and 

 Tasmania; 

 about 35 species. 

 Flying m e m- 

 branes are pres- 

 ent in" 3 genera, 

 which are more 

 closely allied to 

 genera without 

 fl y i n g me m- 

 branes than to 

 each other. 



Sub-fam. 1. 

 Tarsipedinae. 

 Tail long ; 

 snout long 

 and slender, 

 tongue ex- 

 tensile ; with- 

 out caecum ; 

 grinding 

 teeth min- 

 ute ; lower 

 jaw without 

 i nflection. 

 Tarsipes G. 

 and V., about 

 the size of a 

 mouse, ex- 

 insectivorous ; 



tracts honey from flowers with its tongue, also 

 1 species. 



Sub-fam. 2. Phalangerinae. Dentition normal ; tail long, gener- 

 ally prehensile ; snout broad ; tongue not extensile ; without cheek 

 pouches ; with large caecum ; throughout the Australian region. 

 Acrobates Desm., with flying membrane, Queensland, N. S. Wales, 

 Victoria ; 1 species. Distoechurus Peters, New Guinea, 1 species. 

 Dromicia Gray, dormouse-like ; N. Guinea, W. Australia, Tasmania ; 

 4 species. Gymnobelideus McCoy, like Petaurus but without flying 

 membrane, Victoria, 1 species. Petaurus Shaw- (Fig. 281), with 

 flying membrane, medium or small size, fur soft and silky ; insecti- 



