43 8 POUCHED ANIMALS 



BAT-KANGAROO (Hypsiprymnus rufescens}. 

 Plate XLIV. Fig. 2. 



The Potoroo, of which there are several species, is 

 generally known as the Rat-Kangaroo. The latter is not 

 a particularly happy name, for, though the fore limbs are 

 proportionately longer and the hind limbs less powerful, 

 in form and habits the little animal is a perfect Kangaroo 

 in miniature. The chief variations lie in the Potoroo's 

 different dentition, its narrower fore feet, and sometimes 

 its partially prehensile tail. 



Even the largest Rat-Kangaroo seldom exceeds the size of 

 a rabbit. Some of them are clothed with dense and often 

 beautiful fur. The whole of the nine species are harmless 

 and timid ; they are nocturnal, feeding on grass, leaves, 

 and roots. The little Potoroo has only one young at a 

 birth, and, like all marsupials, there is only one birth during 

 the year. If a similar statement could be made concerning 

 the common rat it would cease to be viewed as a dangerous 

 and expensive pest. 



Except by the Australian blacks, the Rat-Kangaroo is 

 little used as food. White men are prejudiced against it 

 by its popular name, although in reality the flesh of the 

 Potoroo is not unlike that of rabbit. 



FAMILY PHALANGITID.E (PHALANGERS). 



The Phalanger family includes various animals of 

 moderate size with notably common features, the chief 

 of which, as the name implies, is the union of the second 

 and third toes of the hind foot. All of them are thickly 

 clothed with short, woolly hair, often beautiful in colour 

 and rich in texture. The tail is usually long and more or 

 less prehensile ; in many cases it is bushy, but sometimes 

 hair appears only at the base, and it is scaly towards the 

 extremity. The fore paws are strong and specially adapted 

 for grasping and for life among the branches of trees, where 

 most of the animals spend their lives. The Phalangers 



