MAMMALIA— ORDER XT.— MARSUPIAL/A. 



Fig. 107.— Flting-Piialangbr 

 i^PetaurUfS bi-eviceps). 



large ears entirely naked and untufted ; and the tail, which exceeds the 

 head and body in length by about an inch, is cylindrical and bushy. With 

 the exception of the last, which is triangular, the upper molars are square, 

 with rounded corners, and carry four tubercles. 

 Several peculiarities cnaracte-rise the skull. 

 From their similarity in cranial and dental 

 characters to the last, it is believed that 

 the three species of flying - phalangers form- 

 ing the genus Petaiims have been evolved 

 either from an ancestral form of Gymnobelideiis, 

 or some nearly allied type. Iheae animals, 

 which are of small or medium size, have a 

 soft and silky fur, rather large, oval, and almost 

 naked ears, and a broad parachute-like expansion 

 of the skin of the flanks. In the fore-foot the 

 toes gradually increase in length from the first, 

 the fifth attaining the maximum elongation in 

 the largest species, and the fourth in the two 

 smaller ones. The claws, which are longer than 

 in the preceding genus, are strong, sharp, and 

 highly curved ; and the long tail is evenly 

 bushy throughout. Both the chest and the 

 crown of the head bear a gland. The range of the genus includes New 

 Guinea and part of Australia, extending from Victoria to the islands of the 

 Halmahera group. All the three species are inhabitants of Australia, ; a 

 variety of one (P. breviceps) being peculiar to New Guinea, New Britain, the 

 Halmahera group, and certain other islands. Writing of one of the species, 

 Bennett observes that " it retires either between the forked branches or in 

 the hollow cavities of the trees during the day to sleep, and at night passes 

 from one to another by flying leaps, aided by its parachute-like membrane, 

 descending to the ground only from unavoidable necessity, such aa when the 

 trees are so far apart as to render it impossible to traverse the space by 

 leaping." 



With the pretty little dormouse-phalangers (Dromicia), of which there are 

 four species, ranging over New Guinea, Western Australia, and Austraha, we 

 revert to a genus unprovided with a parachute. In addition to this feature 

 and their small dimensions, the dormouse-phalangers are characterised by 

 their large, thin, and almost naked ears ; the normal proportions of the toes, 

 which in the fore-limb follow the order 3, 4, 2, 5, 1, as regards relative 

 length ; and the short and rudimental fore-claws. The cylindrical tail is 

 well furred only near the root, being elsewhere scaly and sparsely covered 

 with short hairs, except at the extremity, where it is roughened and completely 

 naked beneath, and endowed with the power of prehension. With the ex- 

 ception of the last, which may be wanting, the molars have regularly rounded 

 crowns, carrying four tubercles each. These little animals, one of which is 

 rather smaller than the British dormouse, are purely nocturnal creatures, 

 living on fruits, honey, and insects, and hiding during the daytime in the 

 hollows, or beneath the dead strips of bark which han-g down from the stems 

 of gum-trees. One species undergoes a partial hibernation during the colder 

 months of the year. A curious resemblance is presented by the pretty little 

 pen-tailed-phalanger of New Guinea {Didcechurus pennatws) to the pen-tailed 

 tree-shrew (Ftilocercus) among the lusectivora described on page 44, in that 



