662 



MAMMALIA 



[CH. 



many of the more primitive. Didelphyidae there is no pouch. In 

 Australia the Polyprotodontia are represented by three families, 

 viz. the DASYURIDAE, the PERAMELIDAE and the NOTORYCTIDAE. 

 The first family includes the animals known as native Cats, which 

 resemble the American Opossums, but are distinguished from them 

 by the smaller number of incisor teeth and by having a rudi- 

 mentary first digit in both fore- and hind-feet, whereas in the 

 Didelphyidae, as we have seen, this digit is long and prehensile. 

 The largest member of the family is Thyladnus cynocephalus, 



FIG. 331. Banded Ant-eater, Myrmecobius fasciatus x. 



the Tasmanian Wolf, now confined to the wilder parts of Tas- 

 mania: it has a skull which strikingly resembles that of a Dog; 

 in its habits it resembles a Wolf and is very destructive to Sheep. 

 The Banded Ant-eater, Myrmecobius fasciatus, is an aberrant 

 member of the same family which lives on insects, capturing them 

 with its long tongue. The insects are made to adhere to this 

 organ by the viscid saliva. The teeth, though rudimentary, are 

 distinct. There is no pouch: the young when first born cling to 

 the teats and conceal themselves in the long hair of the mother's 

 abdomen. The PERAMELIDAE or Bandicoots are small animals 





