VERTEBRATA: MAMMALIA. 665 



The typical group ot the carpophagous Marsupials is that of 

 the Phalangistidcz or Phalangers, so called because the second 

 and third digits of the hind-feet are joined together almost 

 to their extremities. The family includes a number of small 

 Marsupials, fitted for an arboreal existence, to which end the 

 hallux is opposable and nail-less, whilst the four remaining 

 toes of the hind-feet have long curved claws. The tail, too, 

 is generally very long, and its tip is usually prehensile. The 

 Phalangers are all small nocturnal animals which live upon 

 fruits and other vegetable food. The best known of them is 

 the Australian Opossum or Vulpine Phalanger (Phalangista 

 vulpina), which must not be confounded with the true or 

 American Opossums, which belong to another section of the 

 Marsupialia. The Phalangers, namely, are distinguished from 

 the Opossums properly so called, amongst other characters, 

 by their dentition, the canine teeth being always very small 

 and functionally useless in the lower jaw, and sometimes in 

 the upper jaw as well. The Phalangista vulpina is nocturnal 

 and arboreal in its habits, and its flesh is esteemed a great 

 delicacy by the native Australians, with whom opossum-hunt- 

 ing is a favourite pursuit. 



The flying Phalangers or Petauri are closely allied to the 

 true Phalangers, but differ in not having a prehensile tail, and 

 in having a fold of skin extending on each side between the 

 sides of the body and the hind and fore limbs. By the help 

 of these lateral membranes the Petauri can take extensive leaps 

 from tree to tree ; but though called " flying " Phalangers, they 

 have no power of flight properly so called. They are beauti- 

 ful little animals, nocturnal in their habits, and having the body 

 clothed with a soft and delicate fur. 



(B.) POLYPROTODONTIA. Lower incisors more than two in 

 number; canines more or less well-developed ; molars cuspi- 

 date or with sectorial crowns. 



d. Entomophaga. In this section the jaws are always fur- 

 nished with canine teeth, but these are not of very large size, 

 and the animals composing the section are therefore not highly 

 predaceous, but " prey, for the most part, on the smaller and 

 weaker classes of invertebrate animals." In this section are 

 the Bandicoots ( Peramdida), the American Opossums (Didel- 

 phid(z\ and the Banded Ant-eater (Myrmecobius). 



The Bandicoots * (Peramelidce) are small Australian animals, 

 which appear to fill the place of the Hedgehogs, Shrew-mice, 

 and other small Insectivora of the Old World. The molars are 



* The name "Bandicoot" properly belongs to the Great Rat (Mus 

 gigantetis) of India. 



