322 BRANCH CHOEDATA 



The Tasmanian wolf has a skull like a dog's, and is like the ordinary wolf 

 in size, build, and habits. It is of a dusky hue and marked upon the hind 

 parts with blackish bands. The hallux is wanting. The "Tasmanian 

 devil " is black with white patches on the body. It is the size of a badger 

 and its voice is a yelling growl. 



The Australian ant-eater is of a bright reddish color, banded posteriorly 

 and dorsally with white, and looks much like a large red squirrel. It feeds 

 upon ants, which it captures with its tongue. Its habitat is both terrestrial 

 and arboreal. The young are nourished as in other marsupials, but the 

 pouch is lacking, and they are concealed only by the long hair of the 

 mother. 



The Australian mole has somewhat the appearance and habits of our 

 common mole. It is pale golden red, in harmony with the arid soil in which 

 it lives. The claws of the third and fourth front toes are enlarged. "It 

 is not only blind, but its eyes have been more completely lost by degenera- 

 tion than in any other known case. Its anatomy abounds in curious 

 adaptations to an underground existence, evidently antique." 



The Wombats. — There are three species, one Tasmanian and two Aus- 

 tralian. Cheek pouches and tail are rudimentary. They are heavily 

 built animals, like the badger or marmot, with a shuffling gait. They are 

 gregarious, live in burrows, and feed upon roots. They are gentle, but 

 stupid. Over a hundred thousand skins are sold in London yearly. 



Several of the smaller species of family Phalanger'idoB are called "flying 

 phalangers." They cannot fly upward, of course, but are supported by 

 a parachute-like membrane from fore to hind limb, as they descend with a 

 sort of skimming or sailing movement. The tail is usually long and pre- 

 hensile, and the thumb opposable and nailless. 



The Kangaroos {Macropod'idce) are herbivorous marsupials of Australia 

 and the surrounding islands (Fig. 264). They have three incisors on each 

 side of the upper jaw and one on each side of the lower. The lower pair 

 of incisors are sharp on the inner edge, and to some extent may be moved 

 toward and from each other, cutting grass like shears. The fourth toe of 

 the hind foot is exceedingly long and strong, and the fifth nearly as strong, 

 but shorter, while the third digits are syndactylous,' but so slender that 

 they are of no use in supporting the body. The fore limbs are short and 

 small and are used only for grasping. With the exception of Dendrol'agvs, 

 which is arboreal and has less difference in the length of fore and hind limbs, 

 this family is terrestrial. Locomotion consists of a series of leaps, effected 

 by the long limbs and the long and powerful tail.^ They vary in size from 

 that of a rabbit to giant forms 5 or 6 feet in height. The larva^ of a large 

 kangaroo is not over 3 inches in length. They are gregarious, the droves 

 numbering from 50 to 150. They are crepuscular, nocturnal, and herbiv- 

 orous. They are timid, shy, and harmless if unmolested, but they can rip 

 open a dog with their strong hind claw when necessary to defend themselves. 

 When wounded they take to water, and if they get hold of a dog, they under- 

 take to drown it. 



Genus Mac'ropus includes kangaroos and wallabies, making together 

 twenty-three species. Afacropus riifus attains the height of 5 feet, 5 



1 See Glossary. 



^ Some authorities state that the tail is not used in rapid locomotion, 

 but we know from observation of the kangaroo in the Zoological Gardens 

 that it does rest upon the tail between successive leaps in slow locomotion. 



3 Beddard, p. 124. 



