ORDER M AKSUPIALA. FAMILY I NSECTIVORA. INSECT-EATERS. 



31 



vouring to get over the gunwale by means of their tusks. They are spread 

 generally throughout the Arctic seas, and are hunted for the sake of their 

 oil, skin, and ivory. (Plate 9.) 



ORDER IV. MARSTJPIALA. POUCH-BEARERS. 



THE young of these animals are born in a very imperfect state, but 

 nature having provided the parent with a sort of pouch around the ab- 

 domen, which answers the office of a second womb, they are deposited 

 therein ; here, fastening themselves to the teats of the mother, they remain 

 until their undeveloped organization has arrived at its proper state of 

 perfection. 



Family FLESH-EATERS ; Carnivoi-a. 

 ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



PLATE 10. 

 Genus. Species. Common Name. 



Dasyrus Maugei JIauge's Dasyure. 



Other Genera of this Family : Phascologale, Thylacinus. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. DASYURUS (Gr. Saavs, hairy, and ovpa, a tail). Eight incisor 

 teeth in the upper, and six in the lower jaw, small and regular ; two long 

 canine and twelve molar teeth in each jaw ; the two anterior molar thin 

 and cutting, and the four posterior crowned with points ; body slender ; 

 head conical, snout pointed, and the mouth very wide ; eyes small and 

 sharp ; anterior extremities having five toes armed with claws, the posterior 

 having but four, which are without claws, and a thumb which is so short 

 as to appear like a tubercle ; the tail long, and covered with long hairs, 

 but not prehensile. 



2. PHASCOLOGALE (Gr. 0airv<i\oc, a pouch, and yaXt'?/, a cat). In- 

 cisive teeth in the upper jaw eight, of which the middle two are thick, 

 rounded, pointed, converging at their tip, and longer than the lateral, which 

 are very small, and separated from them by a gap ; in the lower jaw eight 

 incisive, of which the middle two, twice as large as those on the sides, are 

 inclined forwards ; cuspid teeth of moderate size, those in the lower jaw 

 the smallest; molar teeth seven on a side in each jaw, the first three 

 conical, single-pointed, and grooved on their inner side, the last four nearly 

 triangular, many-pointed, and of unequal size ; muzzle naked and cleft ; 

 ears large and naked. 



3. THYLACINUS (Gr. QvXaKoc, a pouch). Incisive teeth eight in the 

 upper and six in the lower jaw, of equal length, but the outer one on each 

 side largest, regularly disposed in a semicircular form, and separated in 

 the middle by a gap ; cuspid teeth large, strong, curved and pointed ; 

 molar teeth seven on a side in each jaw, of which the front two are false 

 molars, and the other five very strong and large, irregularly triangular, and 

 furnished on their crowns with blunt tubercles, but the first of them has 

 only two tubercles ; of the lower molars, which are compressed and three- 

 pointed, the middle point is the most elevated ; the hinder three resemble 

 those of the dog ; hind feet thumbless ; tail compressed on the sides, and 

 terminating in a point. 



CARNIVORA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



DASYURUS. The animals composing this genus are natives of New 

 Holland. Like the Opossums they live upon flesh and insects, but cannot 

 climb like them, as the strong thumbs of the hind feet and the prehensile 

 tail are wanting. 



The species are the Dog-headed Dasyure (D. Cynocephalus), about the 

 size of a Dog, three feet and a half in length ; the fur of the skin short, of 

 a deep grey on the back, and yellowish brown beneath : the animal is a 

 good swimmer. See THYLACINUS, below. 



The Ursine Dasyure (D. Ursinus) is not above half the length of the 

 preceding : it lives on the shore, and feeds itself with its paws. 



The Long-tailed Dasyure (D. Macrouras) is about the size of a Martin. 



The Maugean Dasyure (D. Maugei) Plate 10 is nearly the size of a 

 Martin; snout and ears long; fur long and soft; in colour olive above, 

 grey beneath, and spotted with white over the whole of the body : is a 

 native of New Holland. 



The Viverrine Dasyure (D. Viverrinus), about a foot in length. The 

 Tapha (D. Tafa), similar to the last, but without spots. The Brush-tailed 

 Dasyure (D. Pencillatus). 



The Yellow Dasyure (D. Minimus) is the smallest animal in the genus, 

 its body not being more than four inches long. 



PHASCOLOGALE. This genus has been separated from the Dasyuri by 

 Temminck in consequence of their having a false or single-pointed conical 

 molar tooth more, and their incisive teeth being disposed in regular order. 

 Of their habits nothing is known, excepting that it is said they are com- 

 monly found in trees, and rarely seen on the ground ; but Temminck con- 

 siders their molar teeth to characterise them as insect-eaters, and that in 

 New Holland they occupy the place of the Dasyures. 



The P. Peniculata is about the size of the Brown Rat, the body being 

 eight, and the tail six inches long. 



The P. Minima is rather less than the Garden Dormouse, the body 

 being four and the tail two inches long. 



THYLACINUS. This genus has been separated from the Dasyuri by their 

 having four additional teeth in the upper jaw, a furred and non-prehensile 

 tail, a head like a dog, and a greater arch and width of cheek. 



The Dasyurus Cynocephalus (T. Harrisii) is the largest of the carnivorous 

 marsupial animals : it is indeed nearly the size of a young wolf; the eyes 

 are large, full, black, and furnished with a nictitating membrane, giving to 

 it a very savage appearance ; the ears are wide at their base, rounded at 

 the tip, and covered with short hair ; head very large, and mouth extending 

 back nearly to the front corners of the eyes ; legs short and thick, in pro- 

 portion to the body ; fore feet five-toed, with short, blunt, black claws, and 

 a naked, callous heel ; hind feet four-toed, with short claws, concealed by 

 tufts of hair, extending an inch beyond them. The whole animal is covered 

 with short, smooth, dusky, yellowish-brown hair. It is found in Van 

 Diemen's Land, in the deep and almost impenetrable glens on the highest 

 mountainous district, and is commonly known to the colonists as the Zebra 

 Opossum and Zebra Wolf. 



Family INSECT-EATERS ; Insectivora. 



Genera. 



Species. 



Common Name. 



Didelphis - - - Virgiana - - - Virginian Opossum. 

 Perameles - - - Obesula - - - Porcine Bandicost or Peramale. 



Another Genus of this family : Cheironectes. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. DIDELPHYS (Gr. Sic, turice, and $t\(f>ve, a womb). Ten incisive teeth 

 above, and eight below ; seven molar on each side, of which the three first 

 are flattened laterally and pointed ; and the four last are multicuspid, the 

 upper triangular, and the lower oblong ; mouth very wide ; muzzle sharp ; 

 ears large and naked ; tail prehensile and scaly ; five toes on each foot, 

 distinct ; the hind thumb long and much separated from the others ; 

 abdominal pouch, its margin only distinct sometimes. 



2. PERAMELES (Lat. pera, a bag, and meles, a badger). Incisive teeth 

 in the upper jaw ten, the outer one far separated from the others, and in 

 form resembling the cuspid ; in the lower jaw six or eight ; cuspid distinct, 

 pointed, and larger than the incisive ; molar either seven in each jaw, or 

 eight in the upper and six in the lower, the anterior three or four com- 

 pressed and cutting, the posterior studded with points ; head very long and 

 nose pointed ; eyes lateral ; ears of moderate size and obtuse ; tail of 

 moderate length, thick at its base, pointed, and having but few hairs on its 

 upper surface ; fore feet five-toed, the middle three longer than the others, 

 and the inner, or thumb, nearly rudimental ; hind feet longer than the 

 former, and four-toed, the inner two very small and enveloped in skin to 

 the claws, the third the largest, and the outermost the smallest. 



