

VERTEBRATA. 





. i 



■ - • m 



MOXOTREMATA. 



armed with powerfiil claws, but destitute of swimming membranes. The body is short and thick, 



tail ia redo 1 to a very small size, and the skin is clothed with bristly hairs, intermixed on 



surface with numerous sli.nl, acute spines, very similar to those of the hedgehog. The 

 structure of the mammary -Ian. Is of the female, and the spurs on the hind-legs of the male, 

 we have described as characteristic of the order. 

 Thi 1' tci pine Ant-Eater, E. hystrix, measures from fifteen to eighteen inches in length, 

 and is found generally in hilly countries, where it lives in burrows and feeds upon insects, princi- 

 pals ants and termites, which it captures by the protrusion of its long sticky tongue. It is a 

 . dull, nocturnal animal, but exhibits a wonderful activity in digging, for which its powerful 

 Imirably adapted. When surprised, it either makes its escape by burrowing into the 

 earth, >>r rolls itself up in the manner of a hedgehog so as to present its spiny covering to the 

 my. It is found in New South Wales. The E. setosa, the only other known species, resein- 

 the preceding, and is considered by some naturalists as merely an old variety of it; it is 

 V w South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. 



< >l;\1TII< >RHYN< !HUS: Omithor hynchus.— Of this there is but a single species, the 



k-kii.led Platypus, Mallangong, Tambreet, or Mouflengong, 0. paradoxus, which seems 



>j> the climax of eccentricity in the zoology of Australia. Its jaws resemble a flattened duck's 



bill, opening freely to a considerable extent, and covered with a thick skin. Near the base the 



an- furnished on each aide with a sort of horny tooth, which, however, is quite destitute of 



a root The t \ - divided into two parts, of which the binder is broad and flat, covered with 



papilla:, while the anterior portion is narrow and covered with upright points, which become 



.rand sharper toward its tip. The nostrils are placed at the apex of the upper mandible. 



The body is about fifteen inches long; the skin is covered with a short brown fur, which extends 



• upon the short, flattened tail. The legs are short, each being furnished with five toes, which 



an- united by a membrane; this, on the anterior feet, projects in a semicircular form beyond the 



the cla' The spurs on the hind-legs of the male are of considerable size, but 



they v. .in never to be used in self-defense. 



extraordinary animal, which was supposed by its first describer, Dr. Shaw, to be a raami- 



ired moi -'■ r, is found in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, where it inhabits ponds 



in. I the quiet part- of streams. In these places it swims about on the surface of the water, with 



