224 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



The Yapock has large naked ears, and a long, almost naked, tail, and is altogether rather larger than 

 the common Rat. Its method of life is very much the same as that of the Otter. It is a good diver, 

 and feeds upon crustaceous and other aquatic animals. It is a native of Guiana and Brazil. 



The Marsupial animals assume the general shape and habits of many orders of Mammalia which 

 have no marsupium, and which live in the other great natural history provinces. Thus there are 

 Marsupial animals like Dogs, Rats, Squirrels, Flying Squirrels, Deer, &c. They have, therefore, 

 many methods of life as a group, and, as might be expected, the brain and nervous system present 

 many differences in them. In all, the front lobes of the brain which deal with the sense of smell are 

 very large, and in some, such as in the Carnivorous Marsupials, they are exposed, and not covered by 

 the main mass of the brain. In the Kangaroos, however, these olfactory lobes are hidden more or less. 

 These last also have well-marked convolutions on the brain which are nearly wanting in those fii-st 

 mentioned. 



The Marsupial animals just considered have been classified to a certain extent during their 

 descriptions, but it is necessary to recapitulate. They are arranged in groups of genera or species, or 

 into families. They are as follows : 



ORDER MARSUPIALIA. SUB-ORDER MARSUPIATA. 



Family MACROPODIDJE 



PHASCOLOMYID^E 



PHALANGISTID.K 



PERAMELID.*: 



DASYURIDJE 



DIDELPHID^E 



The Macropodidse, Phalangistidae, Peramelidse, and Dasyuridse are found living somewhere or 

 other in the Australian distributional province, which includes the mainland, Tasmania to the 

 south, and the Molucca and Arru Islands to the north, bounded by the Straits of Lombok, and 

 Celebes, New Guinea, New Ireland, Timor, Amboyna, Banda, and Waigeoe. Each family is not 

 represented fully, however, in all the remarkably separated divisions of the province. Thus the 

 genera Macropus and Dendrolagus of the first family, Petaurus and Phalangista of the third, Pera- 

 meles of the fourth, and Phascogale of the Dasyuridse have been found in New Guinea ; but in other 

 islands, such as Celebes, and in those from Lombok to Timor, the genus Cuscus alone is represented. 

 In the Moluccas, Cuscus and the genus Petaurus are found. In Van Diemen's Land about one-half of 

 the species are peculiar to the island, and the remainder are found also on the eastern districts of the 

 mainland. It has Kangaroos, Potoroos, Wombats, Phalangers, Bandicoots, and three out of the four 

 genera of Dasyurida?. Western Australia, which is such a remarkable botanical province, and is so 

 separated by desert and sand from the east, has numerous Kangaroos, Potoroos, Phalangers, Bandicoots, 



* The sub-genera Halmaturus and Heteropus, Osphranter, Lagorchestes, and Petrogale, are included in Macropus, 

 and many other sub-genera relating to the other families merely complicate the classification. Bettongia, Potoroiis, are 

 sub-genera or artificial groups of the genus Hypsiprymnus ; Cuscus, Trichosurus, Pseudochirus, and Dromicia, are groups 

 of Phalangistidae ; Petaurista, Belideus, and Acrobata are divisions of the genus Petaurus ; Macrotis is a sub-genus of Pera- 

 meles ; Antechinus is a division of the genus Phascogale ; Sarcophilus is a sub-genus of Dasyuvus. These are unnecessary 

 sub-divisions. 



