302 



MAMMALIA. 



scarcely visible, and it is not much more than an inch in length. It 

 is placed in the pouch by the mother, sucks firmly on to one of the 

 two or three teats, and remains in the pouch for eight or nine months. 

 In their external appearance, in their mode of nourishment, and 

 in their habits, the Marsupials differ extraordinarily from each other. 

 Many of them are herbivorous, and in their dentition approach the 

 Rodents or the Ungulates ; others are omnivorous ; others, like true 

 Carnivora, prey on Insects, Birds and Mammals. In their general 

 appearance and mode of locomotion they repeat a series of types of 

 different mammalian orders. The Wombats represent the Rodents, 



FIG. 683. 1 lie j.elvis and 

 adjoining parts of the 

 vertebral column of 

 Macropus. Jl, Ilium ; Pb, 

 Pubis; Js, Ischium; If, 

 Marsupial bones ; A, 

 Acetabulum; S, the two 

 sacral vertebrae. 



FIG. 684. a, Female generative organs of Halmaturus 

 (after Gegenbaur); Ov, Ovary; T, Oviduct; U, 

 Uterus ; 0, Mouth of uterus ; V, Vagina ; , 

 Caecum of vagina ; Ur, Ureter ; H, Urinary 

 bladder; M, opening of bladder into the uro- 

 genital sinus (S). b, Bifid penis of Didelphys 

 philander (after Otto, from Gegenbaur) ; E the two 

 halves of the glans. 



the fleet Kangaroos, which move by huge bounds, correspond to the 

 Ruminants, and represent, in a certain degree, game, which is absent 

 in Australia. The flying Marsupials (Petaurus) resemble the flying 

 Squirrels (Pteromys) ; the climbing Phalangers (Phalangista), in 

 their shape and mode of life, recall the Lemurs (Lemur] ; while 

 others, as the Peramelidce, show a likeness to the Shrews (Soricidce} 

 and Insectivores. Finally, the carnivorous Marsupials approach in 

 their dentition to the true Carnivora as well as the Insectirora, to 

 which they scarcely yield in the large number of their small incisor 

 teeth and tuberculated molars. 



