254 POUCHED MAMMALS. 
or medium-sized Australasian marsupials of arboreal habits, which are so closely 
connected with the kangaroo tribe through the five-toed kangaroo as to render the 
distinction between the two families a matter of some difficulty. 
The whole of these animals are characterised by their thick, woolly coats; 
and, with the single exception of the koala, they have long tails, which are 
frequently endowed with the power of prehension. The fore and hind-limbs 
instead of presenting the disproportionate relative lengths characterising most of 
the kangaroos, are of the normal proportions; and the front paws are provided 
with five nearly equal-sized and clawed toes. The structure of the hind-feet is 
essentially the same as in the five-toed kangaroo; that is to say, there is a nailless 
first toe which can be opposed to the others, while the second and third are slender 
and enclosed in a common skin. Whereas, however, in the five-toed kangaroos the 
fourth toe is much longer and more powerful than all the others, in the phalangers 
it is not much larger than the fifth. The whole group differs from the kangaroos 
in the absence of any pit on the outer sides of the hinder portion of the lower jaw, 
as shown in the accompanying 
figure of the skeleton; while if 
there is any perforation in this 
portion of the jaw, it is extremely 
minute. As regards the dentition, 
there are always three pairs of 
upper incisor teeth, of which the 
first is elongated, and likewise a 
well-developed tusk or canine; 
while in the lower jaw the single 
functional pair of incisors are large and pointed, although they lack the scissor-like 
action characterising those of the kangaroos. In the adults there are usually five 
functional cheek -teeth, of which the last four are molars, and the other the 
permanent premolar. The premolar in each jaw has a tall cutting crown, set 
obliquely to the line of the molars; while the latter, of which the fourth may be 
absent, have usually blunt tubercles on their crowns, although they may be of a 
cutting type. In young animals there are two milk-molars in advance of the first 
molar in each jaw; and between the first of these and the functional front teeth 
there occur several minute teeth mm each jaw, very variable in number and quite 
useless, which it is impossible to name correctly, several of these rudimentary 
teeth usually persisting throughout life. While some of the phalangers are mainly 
or exclusively herbivorous, others are more or less omnivorous; and it is in this 
family alone among Marsupials that we meet with species endowed with the power 
of spurious flight. 
Long-snouted The elegant little creature known as the long-snouted phalanger 
Phalanger. (Tarsipes rostratus), may be compared in form and size to the com- 
mon shrew ; and is the sole representative of a special subfamily of the phalangers. 
In spite, however, of this superficial resemblance to a shrew, the creature is a true 
marsupial, the female having a well-developed pouch for the young. Externally, 
the most characteristic feature of this animal is the extremely long and pointed 
muzzle, im which the opening of the mouth is very small. From this tiny mouth 

SKELETON AND JAWS OF PHALANGER. 
