222 PEKAMELlDiS. 



General form light and delicate. Muzzle long and narrow. 

 Khinarium narrow, apparently less deeply grooved below than in 

 Perameles. Ears enormously long, reaching, when laid forward, 

 nearly to or even beyond the end of the muzzle; funnel-shaped, 

 their base tubular. Metatragus duplicated, the upper portion long 

 and broad, and even the lower one projecting at its centre. Pouch 

 weU developed, opening backwards *, but less distinctly so than in 

 Perameles. Mammae 8. Fore feet with the three centre toes long 

 and with powerful curved claws ; first and fifth toes short, 

 rudimentary, clawless. Hind limbs much longer than fore. 

 Hallux entirely absent externally, although its metatarsal bone is 

 present in the skeleton ; other digits as usual. Sole hairy, except 

 just at the base of the toes, where there are one or two small 

 circular pads. Tail long, conspicuously crested along the upper 

 side of its terminal half. 



SJcull large, broad and strong posteriorly, but with a long and 



narrow muzzle, the narrow part commencing abruptly opposite 



p.' Nasals narrow, paraUel-sided. Interorbital region not 



ridged, except on the lacrymal bone. Palate with very large 



conjoined vacuities. Bullae very large and swollen, their anterior, 



alisphenoid, portion pear-shaped; their posterior, mastoid, portion 



also inflated. 



7, .-.. T 1-2. 3. 4. 5 n 1 n 1.0.3.4 Til- 1.3.3.4^,0 Ao 



Dentition -.-1. j-373 , C. j, P. 5-70737^, M. ^_^^g_ i x 2=48. 



Upper incisors broad and flattened, i.' like the rest, and stand- 

 ing close to them. Premolars subequal, but on the whole rather 

 decreasing in size backwards. Molars quadrangular or rounded 

 in section, their structure difiering very markedly in the two 

 species. Lower incisors as in Perameles. P.' and p.' subequal, 

 the latter sUghtly the largest; p.' decidedly smaller than p.' 

 Milk-p.* present, functional, and long-persistent; as large as, or 

 larger than, any of the upper incisors. 



Habits. Terrestrial ; fossorial ; omnivorous. 



Range. Australia. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



I. ExTEENAL ChAEACIEES. 



a. Size large. Tail black for its middle third .... 1. P. lagotis, p. 223. 



b. Size small. Tail whoUy white 2. P. leucura, p. 225. 



comys. I am, howeTer, quite unable to find any distinction of the genus in 

 Prof. Owen's papers, and therefore retain the well-known name given to the 

 genus by Gray. Blyth's statement was, perhaps, based on a confused account 

 of Gray's Thylamys elegans (= Dideiphys elegans), a member of the group of 

 Opossums to which the latter author applied the name of " Philander." 

 * At least in P. lagotis. 



