Opossums. I 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



15 



the upper and under jaw. The ground colour of 

 the upper surface is dusky black ; a white semilunar 

 mark passes from ear to ear across the forehead; 

 on each side are four large transverse marks of de- 

 licate grey, one on the scapula, and three on the 

 sides of the body, forming bands interrupted or 

 rendered incomplete by a middle dorsal line. The 

 under surface is white , the tail is black, its tip (the 

 extent varying from half an inch to three or four 

 inches) being white. 



6G.— The Brush-tailed Phascog.\le 

 {Phasco^ale penicillata). This animal, the " Tapoa 

 tafa " of White, is a native of Australia. It is found 

 throughout the colony of New South Wales, and is 

 common on Liverpool Plains ; Mr. Gould saw it also 

 at Adelaide, in South Australia, where it frequently 

 enters the houses. It is arboreal in its habits, and 

 feeds on small birds, insects, &c. ; but little is known 

 respecting its general economy. 



The brush-tailed phascogale belongs to the family 

 of Dasyuridae. In size it exceeds the common brown 

 rat of our country ; its tail is very bushy, and is 

 probably used to assist in climbing. The fur of the 

 body is long, full, soft, and loose ; the general colour 

 above is grey ; the under parts are white. 



67. — ^The Ursine Opossum 

 {Basyunis ursinus). In their dental system the 

 animals of this genus (Dasyurus) approach the Ame- 

 rican opossums ; they differ, however, in having 

 only eight incisors in the upper jaw, and six in the 

 lower. The canines are large ; the false molars are 

 two on each side, above and below ; the true molars 



four. Dental formula: Incisors ^, canines, 



1— r 



molars ^^ = 42. (See figure 68.) All the animals 



6 — 6 

 of this genus are Australian. 



The ursine dasyurus, or opossum, is a native of 

 Van Diemen's I^nd, and is called by the colonists 

 the native devil, by which name it was known up- 

 wards of thirty years back. Instead of being slender 

 and active, as are the Dasyuri generally, this animal 

 is thickset in its proportions and heavy m its move- 

 ments. Its shape is not unlike that of a badger, 

 but the head is thick, the muzzle short and stout, 

 the eyes small, the mouth wide. The limbs are 

 short, robust, and clumsy ; the toes, five on the fore 

 feet, four on the hind, are armed with large claws 

 well adapted for burrowing. The heel is produced, 

 and the sole is naked and callous, indicating a plan- 

 tigrade step and heavy pace. 



Like the bear, which it resembles in its actions 

 and gait, the ursine opossum sits up on its haunches, 

 and frequently uses its paws in conveying food to 

 the mouth. Its voice is a hollow barking growl. 

 The female produces four or five young at a birth : 

 as in all the Marsupials, they are rudimentary, 

 small, naked, and blind, and in this stage ot their 

 existence are found firmly adhering to the teats of 

 the mother. 



The ursine opossum measures twenty-one inches 

 in length, exclusive of the tail, which is seven inches. 

 The fur of the body is rather long, harsh, and black ; 

 a white gorget is conspicuous on the chest, and a 

 white transverse mark often crosses the haunches. 

 This animal is stupid and voracious in the extreme. 

 Its habits are nocturnal, and it frequents the shore 

 of the sea, feeding upon moUusca, carrion, &c. The 

 flocks of the colonists in Van Diemen's Land, and 

 domestic poultry, suifer from its ravages. Dunng 

 the day it conceals itself in burrows or holes in the 

 ground. 



Mr. Harris, who first described this species under 

 the name of Didelphis ursina, says, "These animals 

 were very common on our first settling at Hobart 

 Town, and were particularly destructive to poultry, 

 &e. They however furnished the convicts with a 

 fresh meal, and the taste was said to be not unlike 

 veal. As the settlement increased, and the ground 

 became cleared, they were driven from their haunts 

 near the town, to the deeper recesses of the forests 

 yet unexplored. They are however easily procured 

 by setting a trap in the most unfrequented parts of 

 the woods, baited with raw flesh, all kinds of which 

 they eat indiscriminately and voraciously. They 

 also, it is probable, prey on dead fish, blubber &c., 

 as their tracks are frequently found on the sands of 

 the sea-shore. In a state of confinement, they 

 appear to be untamebly savage, biting severe y, 

 and uttering at the same time a low yelling growl.' 

 We have had frequent opportunities of observing 

 the ursine opossum in captivity. Its heavy head 

 and wide mouth give it a peculiar expression of 

 ferocity unmingled with the slightest intelligence. 

 When roused from its lethargy, it instantly displays 

 its formidable teeth, ready to bite in a moment. It 

 neither acknowledges its keepers nor those who 

 habitually feed it : it keeps in the darkest part of 

 the den, and the nictitating membrane of the eye 

 i» in perpetual motion, and indication that light is 

 distressing. It feeds indiscriminately on bread and 



milk, and flesh. From the strength of its jaws, and 

 the severity of its bite, the ursine opossum is more 

 than a match for an ordinary dog, and, as Mr. 

 Gunn states, is the most destructive animal to sheep 

 in the colony. It is fierce, and defends itself ob- 

 stinately. 



69. — The Dog-head Thylacinus 



(Thylacinus Cynocephalus). This animal, called 

 zebra opossum, and zebra wolf, tiger, hysena, &c., is 

 a native of Van Diemen's Land, where fortunately 

 it is much rarer than the ursine opossum, other- 

 wise it would prove a greater pest, from its size and 

 strength. In stature it nearly equals a wolf ; the 

 head much resembles that of a dog, but the mouth 

 is wider ; the tail is thick at the base, becoming 

 more slender to the point : it is covered with short 

 close hairs of a brown colour. The general fur is 

 short and smooth, of a dusky yellowish brown barred 

 or zebraed on the lower part of the back and rump 

 with about sixteen black transverse stripes, broadest 

 on the back and gradually tapering downwards, two 

 of which extend a considerable way down the thighs. 

 The ground-colour of the back has a tint of dusky 

 grey. The eyes are large, full, and black. Length 

 of head and body of adult male, nearly four feet ; of 

 the tail two feet ; average height of back one foot 

 ten or eleven inches. In the specimens we have 

 examined, the tail appeared compressed, as was 

 observed by Mr. Harris, its original describer. Mr. 

 Gunn, however, in the ' Magazine of Natural History," 

 contradicts this part of Mr. Harris's statement. 

 .8.1-1 

 Dental formula: — mcisors, g; canines, j— r ; mo- 



7-7 

 lars, ,j--^ = 46. 



The toes are 5 on the fore-feet, 4 on the hind- 

 feet ; the claws are blunt as in the dog : a narrow 

 naked line runs up the back of the wrist from the 

 ball, and also up the metatarsus of the hind limbs, 

 to half the distance between the ball or pad and 

 the heel. 



In its habits the dog-headed thylacinus is noc- 

 turnal, remaining concealed during the day in the 

 caverns and fissures of the rocks, in the deep and 

 almost impenetrable glens among the highest moun- 

 tains of Van Diemen's Land. Like the ursine opossum 

 it is distressed by the light, and brings the nictitat- 

 ing membrane of the eyes into perpetual use. 

 During the night it prowls, hyaena-like, in quest of 

 prey. The bush kangaroo and other animals it 

 destroys, and even manages to eat the spine-covered 

 echidna (or porcupine anteater), which is so pro- 

 tected by its panoply of spears as to seem almost 

 invulnerable. An individual was caught by Mr. 

 HaiTis in a trap baited with kangaroo flesh ; it lived 

 but a few hours, having received some internal 

 hurt in securing it, and appeared to be stupid, in- 

 active, and ferocious, uttering from time to time a 

 short guttural cry : like the owl, it was constantly 

 drawing and undrawing the nictitating membrane 

 of the eye. In its stomach was found the partly- 

 digested remains of a porcupine anteater. IVlr. 

 Gunn (see ' Annals of Natural History ' for 1838, 

 vol. I., p. 101) informs us that the thylacinus is 

 common in the more remote parts of the colony, 

 and is often caught at Woolnorth and Hampshire 

 Hills. It usually attacks sheep in the night, but is 

 also seen during the daytime, upon which occasions, 

 perhaps from its imperfect vision by day, its pace is 

 very slow. We are not aware that this animal has 

 ever been brought alive to Europe. 



70, 71. — ^The Long-nosed Bandicoot 

 (Purameles nasuta). The Bandicoots appear to take 

 in Australia the place of the shrews, tenrecs, and 

 other Insectivora in the old world. Closely allied 

 in the structure of their organs of locomotion to the 

 kangaroos, yet in their system of dentition they 

 exhibit a remarkable difterence. In this latter 

 point they in some respects approach the opossums 

 (Didelphis), and the characters of the teeth indicate 

 an insectivorous appetite. Above the incisors are 

 10 in number, of these the outermost on each side is 

 conical and apart from the rest. The canines are 

 curved and stand isolated ; the molars on each side 

 are 7, of which the 3 first are false, compressed, 

 and sharp. The four true molars are crowned with 

 sharp tubercles. Below the incisors are 6 in close 

 array, and projecting obliquely. The canines and 

 molars are as in the upper jaw. 



10 1-1 



Dental formulo : — incisors, 



canines, 



1—1 



7—7 

 molars, ,^—==48, (See fig. 72). 



The general contour and form of the bandicoots 

 is rabbit like, but the muzzle is elongated, narrow, 

 and pointed, the nose advancing considerably be- 

 yond the jaw. The fore-feet are divided into five 

 toes, of these the innermost is rudimentary, and the 

 outermost a mere cubercle, having a minute nail. 

 The three middle toes are large, and armed with 



strong claws. The hinder limbs, though not de- 

 veloped to the same proportionate extent as in the 

 kangaroos, exceed the fore-limbs. The metatarsur 

 is elongated and naked beneath ; the toes are fous 

 in number, viz., on the inner side, two toes joined 

 in common integument, as in the kangaroos, each 

 furnished with its distinct claw ; a large and robust 

 middle toe, with a straight strong pointed claw ; 

 and a small outer toe also armed with a straight 

 claw. 



Though the system of dentition in the bandicoots 

 is insectivorous, they do not refuse vegetable ali- 

 ment; they live in buiTOws, for the digging o£ 

 which their fore-paws are well adapted. In their 

 movements these animals resemble a rabbit ; they 

 do not, like the kangaroo, bound from the hind 

 limbs alone, but arching the back, proceed with a 

 saltigrade gait, that is half way between running 

 and jumping ; or rather by a succession of short 

 leaps from the hind to the fore feet, but not with 

 much speed, nor maintained for a great length of 

 time. The kangaroos make considerable use of the 

 tail, but in the bandicoots it is by no means-so 

 important an organ, though it assists them in 

 sitting upright, an attitude usually assumed when 

 eating, the fore-paws being brought into use as 

 holders, like those of the squirrel. With these paws 

 they scratch up the earth in search of roots and 

 insects, and it is said that the potato crops of the 

 colonists in some districts suffer from their incur- 

 sions. They are readily tamed, and in a few days 

 become reconciled and familiar. Five species are 

 now known : of these one is a native of New Guinea. 

 The long-nosed bandicoot is found in New South 

 Wales. It measures about 16 inches in the length 

 of the head and body, and 5 in that of the tail. 

 The ears are erect, pointed, and covered with short 

 hair ; the eyes are very small ; the nose remarkably 

 long, pointed and naked at the extremity. The 

 tail is slender, and though better covered with hair, 

 bears some resemblance to that of a large rat. 

 The hair is of two kinds, an upper and under coat ; 

 the hairs forming the upper or external coat are 

 coarse and harsh. In colour it resembles the 

 rat, excepting that it is of a more sandy shade on 

 the upper parts of the body, and of a more clear 

 silvery white beneath. The under-coat, concealed 

 by this outer garment, consists of soft ash-coloured 

 wool or fur, well calculated to protect the animal 

 from cold and variations of temperature ; for it 

 appears to be an inhabitant of the mountain districts 

 of Australia, principally, if not exclusively. 



The form and characters of its teeth would lead 

 us to suppose that it fed almost entirely upon 

 insects and similar creatures ; and M. Geoflfroy even 

 imagines that it may use its long snout for the pur- 

 pose of rooting up the earth like a pig in search of 

 worms and grubs. The colonists however assert 

 that these bandicoots are chiefly if not purely 

 herbivorous, and that the principal part of their 

 food consists of roots, which they dig up with their 

 sharp and powerful claws. In the neighbourhood 

 of human habitations they frequently enter into the 

 granaries, and do as much mischief to the corn as 

 the rats and mice of our own country. The Austra- 

 lians have however one advantage over the Euro- 

 pean farmers in this respect : the bandicoot is more 

 easily excluded than the rat, for it cannot, like that 

 destructive species of vermin, eat its way through the 

 planks and timbers, and still less through the brick 

 walls of the buUdings. It is probably from this 

 habit of committing petty depredations upon the 

 farm-yards and grananes, as well as from the gene- 

 ral similarity of their external appearance, that the 

 colonists of New South Wales sometimes confound 

 the bandicoots with various species of murine ani- 

 mals originally found in the country under the 

 common denomination of native rats and mice. Nor 

 is it at all improbable, notwithstanding the assertion 

 of the colonists to the contrary, that M. Geoffrey's 

 conjecture as to the insectivorous habits of this ani- 

 mal may be at least partly if not entirely true. The 

 common rat. with teeth much less adapted for 

 living upon flesh than those of the bandicoots, is 

 well known to have decidedly carnivorous propen- 

 sities ; and, as M. Geoff'ry very correctly observes, 

 it is seldom that analogous forms of dentition fail to 

 indicate analogous appetites. 



The insectivorous hedgehog eats the root of the 

 plantain, boring with its snout under the plant so 

 as to get fairiy at it, leaving the leaves untouched. 



73. — Thb Ch.eropus 



{Chceropus ecaudaius, Ogilby). This animal,'which 

 is closely allied to the bandicoots, was first described 

 by Mr. Ogilby (March, 1838) from a drawing made 

 by Sir Thomas Mitchell. The animal was found by 

 that officer on the banks of the river Murray 

 during his expedition into the interior of New South 

 Wales. The following is from his journal :— 



"June 16, 1836. The most remarkable incident 

 of this day's journey was the discovery of an animal 

 of which I had seen only a head in a fossil state in 



