PHALANGISTID.E. MAMMALIA. PHALAXGISTIDJE. 



213 



! 



direction of the little creature's course had been con- 

 tinued, must have plunged it into the sea. All who 

 witnessed the scene were in pain for its safety ; but it 



suddenly appeared to check itself and so to modify its 

 career that it alighted safely on the deck.' " All the 

 species are natives of New South Wales. The Sciurine 



Fig. 87. 



The large Petanrist, or Flying Squirrel (Petaurus taguanoides). 



j Petaurist is also found in New Guinea and its adjacent 

 islands. It is sometimes called the Norfolk Island 

 Flying Squirrel, having been originally described as 

 inhabiting the outlying and isolated spot of land which 

 bears that name. The fur is ash-coloured above and 

 whitish underneath. A brownish line extends from 

 the muzzle to the root of the tail, the latter organ 



being tufted and black at the tip. In the little mouse- 

 like Pigmy Petaurist the hairs of the tail are regularly 

 disposed in two rows, one on either side, like the barbs 

 of a feather. 



THE KOALA (Phascolarctos cinereus). Although 

 this animal has been generically separated from the 

 Petaurists and true Phalangers, yet there is no reason to 



place it outside the family limits of Phalangistidse. 

 The most striking differences have reference to the thick- 

 set body, and more particularly to the extreme shortness 

 and rudimentary condition of the tail (fig. 88). Its 

 dentition for the most part corresponds with those of the 

 Phalangers ; but it never displays canines in the lower 



jaw, and is only furnished with four premolars, one on 

 either side above and below. All the molars are pro- 

 vided with four pyramidal tubercles. To the penta- 

 dactylous character of the feet, the very large crecum, 

 and other essential features of the family, it is entirely 

 conformed. The digits of the anterior feet separate 



