274 



POUCHED MAMMALS. 



Banded Anteater. 



coloured. This pouched-mouse inhabits open sandy districts, and is mainly if not 

 exclusively terrestrial. It progresses by leaps like a jerboa, and is accompanied in 

 its haunts by the placental jumping mice of the genus Hapalotis. 



One of the most curious and interesting of all the Australian 

 Marsupials, is the little banded anteater (Myrmecobius fasciatus); 

 which derives its special interest from the circumstance that it comes closer to 

 some of the extinct Marsupials of the Secondary rocks of Europe than does any 

 other living type. This animal, which may be compared in size to a squirrel, differs 

 from the other members of the family in that there are more than seven cheek-teeth 

 on each side of both the upper and lower jaws, and also in the tongue being elongated 



and cylindrical, and thus capable of being protruded a long distance from the mouth. 

 The banded anteater takes its name from the broad transverse bare of white on 

 the dark ground-colour of the binder-half of the back and loins : the general hue 

 of the fur of the upper-parts being dark chestnut-red, with the under surface of 

 the body white, and a dark line running from the ear through the eye towards the 

 nose. The fur itself is of a somewhat coarse and bristly nature. In form the 

 animal is characterised by its long but broad head, and narrow, elongated muzzle, 

 moderate-sized and somewhat pointed ears, elongated body, short limbs, and long 

 bushy tail. In the fore-feet the first and fifth claws are considerably shorter than 

 the others ; while in the hind-foot there is no external trace of the first toe. The 

 banded anteater is one of the few Marsupials in which the female has no pouch ; 

 the young, when first born, being merely concealed by the long hair of the belly as 



