58 TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE 



to that which is the main support of the hind-limb of 

 the kangaroo. Minute rudiments of the other toes exist 

 beside it. 



The next animal we wish to bring before our reader's 

 attention is the Myrmecobius, an elegant, sharp-nosed, 

 long- tailed, and bushy-tailed creature about the size of 

 a squirrel, with the hinder part of the body ornamented 

 with numerous transverse bands alternately light and 

 dark (Fig. 15). It was first discovered by Lieut. Dale, in 

 Western Australia, who found two specimens which had 

 fled to hollow trees for refuge. The species was described 

 and named by the late Mr. Waterhouse of the British 

 Museum in 1836. 



It runs with successive leaps, the tail being somewhat 

 elevated, and every now and then will stop and raise its 

 body, resting on its hind feet, thus altogether looking 

 very like a squirrel. When caught it is harmless and 

 tame, never attempting to bite, but uttering short, half- 

 smothered grunts in its great alarm. The female appears 

 to bring forth from five to nine young, using a hole in 

 the ground or a hollow tree as a nest. She has no pouch, 

 and the young are only protected by the very long and 

 delicate hairs which clothe the region where the pouch is 

 situated in other species. But the most remarkable 

 character which the animal possesses consists in the 

 great number of its grinding, or molar teeth, of which 

 there are sixteen in the upper jaw and eighteen in the 

 lower. 



Now attractive as this little creature is, its interest 

 for us consists in the fact of its being a " survival" of a 

 very ancient state of things indeed. The opossum of 

 America can lay claim to being of " old family," since it 

 can prove its descent from the time when its relatives 

 left their remains in the rocks beneath what is now Paris. 



