1610 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



FAT-TAILED OPOSSUM MOUSE 



South Wales, that is only three inches long. The 

 Yellow- Footed, (P. flavipes) with yellow legs 

 and feet, as its name indicates, ranges from 

 eastern Australia to New Guinea. In Tasmania 

 and the adjacent islands, a small variety is 

 found, (P. minima), or Little Pouched Mouse, 

 with a body length of five inches, and tail three 

 and one-half inches, and in Queensland a still 

 smaller form is P. minutissima or Pigmy 

 Pouched Mouse, only three inches long and tail 

 two and one-half inches. Tasmania and south- 

 ern Victoria has still another variety. /'. swain- 

 soni, which has long, soft fur. In West Austra- 

 lia is found the Freckled, (P. apicalis), which 

 is freckled, reddish-grey above. Australia is 

 well off for Marsupial Mice, and other varieties 

 certainly will be found, as these little animals 

 are easily overlooked. Insects form a large part 

 of their food. 



Still other Pouched Mice, (Sminthopis) are 

 slender and active little animals, from three 

 to four inches long, with large ears and a well- 

 developed pouch in which they carry the three 

 to four young they have at birth. They are ter- 

 restrial, insectivorous and do not often burrow. 

 Their grey fur is soft and fine. Six species have 



been described, »S'. larapinta, from 

 Central Australia, near the Finke 

 River, and the Fat-Tailed, (S. cras- 

 sicaudata), which is found all over 

 Australia except the north. 



Both of these little animals have 

 the basal portion of their tail much 

 thickened. The Common, (<V. mu- 

 rinn ) is found over the southern 

 and central portions of the conti- 

 nent. »S'. psammophila lives near 

 Lake Amadeus in Central Austra- 

 lia among the sand hills covered 

 with tussocks of porcupine grass. 

 The White-Footed, (S. Icucopux) 

 extends over eastern Australia from 

 Cape York to Tasmania and is 

 plentiful in certain localities. S. 

 virginae is known only in eastern 

 Queensland. It is five inches long. 



\ MARSUPIAL ANT- 

 EATER 



An interesting animal found in 

 southwestern and southern Austra- 

 lia, of which but one species is 

 known, is the Marsupial Anteater, 

 (Myrmecobius fasciatus). It fre- 

 iu e. k. sankor,, quents both the ground and hol- 

 lows in the trees and its food con- 

 sists of insects, generally. The fur 

 is short and strong, of a general rufous color 

 which darkens to black toward the tail, with 

 prominent bands of white. It therefore is dis- 

 tinguished readily. The underparts are light yel- 

 lowish. The females have no pouch, the young 

 adhering to the nipples. It leaps along the 

 ground like a squirrel, with the tail slightly 

 raised. They make charming pets and never at- 

 tempt to bite. It measures ten inches long and 

 its bushy tail seven inches. 



THE MARSUPIAL MOLE 



Australia possesses a marsupial Mole. ( No- 

 toryctes typhlops) found in central and western 

 Australia, but, naturally, it never is seen in cap- 

 tivitv. It is about six inches long, with a curi- 

 ous ringed tail about an inch in length, and 

 much thickened at the base. The nose has a 

 hard shield. The fur is soft with an iridescent 

 effect, and varies in color from a yellowish tint 

 to chestnut-brown. They have two young at a 

 birth, live underground entirely, are without 

 eves and subsist on insect food. 



