PERAMELIDA 141 
present. Tail long, clothed with long hairs. Fur rather harsh and 
bristly. Female without any pouch, the young when attached to 
the nipples being concealed only by the long hair of the abdomen. 
Vertebre: C 7, D 13, L 6, 8 3, C 23. A gland on the under 
surface of the body just in advance of the sternum. 
Of this singular genus but one species is known, M. fasciatus 
(Fig. 41), found in western and southern Australia. It is about the 
size of an English squirrel, to which animal its long bushy tail 
gives it some resemblance; but it lives entirely on the ground, 
especially in sterile, sandy districts, feeding on ants. Its pre- 
vailing colour is chestnut-red, but the hinder part of the back 
is elegantly marked with broad, white, transverse bands on a dark 
ground. 
The special interest of this form lies in its apparent relationship 
to those Mesozoic mammals which possess a large number of true 
molars (see p. 114); and it is suggested by Thomas that it may 
eventually be found advisable to include some of the latter in the 
present subfamily. 
Family PERAMELIDA. 
(4—5) 1 3 
g Pale 
small, with short broad crowns. Lower incisors moderate, nar- 
row, proclivous. Canines well developed. Premolars compressed, 
pointed. Molars with quadrate tuberculated crowns. Fourth pre- 
molar preceded by a small molariform tooth, which remains in place 
until the animal is nearly full grown. Fore feet with two or 
three of the middle toes of nearly equal size, and provided 
with strong, sharp, slightly curved claws; the other toes rudi- 
mentary. Hind feet long and narrow; the hallux rudimentary 
or absent; the second and third toes very slender, and united in a 
common integument; the fourth very large, with a stout elongated 
conical claw ; the fifth smaller than the fourth (see Fig. 43). The 
ungual phalanges of the large toes of both feet cleft at their ex- 
tremities (as in Manis among the Edentata, but in no other 
Marsupials). Head elongated. Muzzle long, narrow, and pointed. 
Stomach simple. Czcum of moderate size. Pouch complete, 
opening backwards. Alone among Marsupials they have no clavicles. 
The Peramelide form a very distinct family, in some respects 
intermediate between the sarcophagous Dasyuride and the 
phytophagous Macropodide. In dentition they resemble the former, 
but they agree with the latter in the peculiar structure of the hind 
feet. In the construction of the fore feet they differ from all other 
Marsupials. 
The Bandicoots, as these Marsupials are popularly termed, are 
m : ; total 46 or 48. Upper incisors 
Dentition : 7 
