THE PHALANGER FAMILY. 



203 



B 



Marsupial which has an equal number of incisors in both jaws. There are no canines. As the 

 Wombat uses much force in gnawing, the muscles of the jaws and their bony attachments are large; 

 consequently the temporal ridges are strongly 

 marked. There is a deep and strong zygomatic 

 arch, and in the lower jaw the turned-in angle is 

 of great size. The chin is also large, and the joint 

 of the jaw also. The sutures of the bones of the 

 skull are scarcely ever obliterated, and the auditory 

 " bullse " are formed in the tempoi-al bone. With 

 regai'd to the marsupial bones, they are long, flat, 

 curved, and, moreover, less expanded near their 

 attachment to the pubis. The ribs are fifteen in 

 number on each side, and the collar-bones are 

 large and stout. There is a curious power of move- 

 ment of the ankle, so that the foot can imitate the 

 turning movements of the wrist and fore-arm of 

 man. This pronation and supination is because 

 the small bone of the leg, the fibula, is free and 

 not attached to the other bone (tibia), and because 

 there is a muscle whose action is to move the 

 fibula after the fashion of the corresponding 

 muscle in the fore limb. The stomach is smaller TEETH OF THE WOMBAT. 



, i , r T7- 11111 * Upper Jaw; B, Lower Jaw ; c, Molar. 



than in the Kangaroos, and has a large gland. 



The Wombat has been found in South Australia, Van Diemen's Land, Bass Strait, and in New 

 South Wales. 



CHAPTER II. 

 THE PHALANGER, POUCHED BADGER, AND DASYURE FAMILIES. 



THE PHALANGER FAMILY THE KOALA Habits Characteristics THE Cuscus THE VULPINE PHALANGER THE 

 DOKMOUSE PHALANGER Habits Remarkable Characters THE FLYING PHALANGERS Its Flying Machine Habits 

 THE SQUIRREL FLYING PHALANGERS Habits The Parachute-like Membrane Exciting Scene ou board a Vessel 

 Characteristics THE OPOSSUM MOUSE THE NOOLBENGER, OR TAIT A Curiosity among Marsupials Distinctive 

 Features THE POUCHED BADGER FAMILY Characteristics THE RABBIT-EARED PERAMELES THE BANDICOOT 

 THE BANDED PERAMELES THE PIG-FOOTED PERAMELES Discussion regarding it Characteristics THE 

 DASYURUS FAMILY Characteristics THE POUCHED ANT-EATERS THE BANDED MYRMECOBIUS Description- 

 Great number of Teeth History Food Habits Range THE URSINE DASYURE Appearance "Native Devil" 

 Ferocity Havoc among the Sheep of the Settlers Trap to Catch them Its Teeth A True Marsupial, though 

 strikingly like the Carnivora Skeletal Characters peculiar to itself MAUGE'S DASYURE THE DOG-HEADED 

 THYLACINUS Description Resemblance to the Dog Habits Peculiarities THE BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOGALE 

 Description Other Varieties. 



III. THE PHALANGER FAMILY. THE PHALANGISTID^E. 



THE loftiest of the gum-trees of the country from Moreton Bay to Port Phillip, and even more 

 widely than this, were often the familiar haunt of a small Marsupial animal, not unlike a little Bear, 

 about two feet in length, and without a tail. It is a famous tree-climber, and its stout body, small 

 head, short limbs, and well-developed feet, are all cased in an ash-grey fur. It has moderate-sized 

 ears, which are hidden by the long hair of the head, and it has a short and nearly naked black muzzle. 

 The eye is large and without eyelashes. The natives climb up the trees after it, according to 

 Mr. Gould, with as much ease and expertness as an European would get up a long ladder, and 

 having reached the branch, perhaps forty or fifty feet from the ground, they follow the animal to the 

 extremity of a bough, and either kill it or take it alive. This animal is called the KOALA, and it feeds 



