MARSUPIALS 



137 



ORDER XIV. : CLOACAL ANIMALS (MONOTREMATA). 



Oviparous mammals in which the urinary and intestinal organs open 

 into a common chamber, the cloaca, as in birds. 



The Duck-Mole (Oriiithorhynchus ■paradoxus). 



(Length, including tail, 20 to 24 inches.) 



This animal is an inhabitant of South- Eastern Australia and 

 Tasmania. Like the otter and beaver, it is a truly aquatic animal, 

 whence it is rightly called " the water-mole " by settlers. For the same 

 reason, the structure of its body agrees in man} r respects with that of the 

 animals named (which see). The coat is thick, and is not wetted by 

 the water; the head is small, the neck short, the body elongated; 



Duck-Mole. (One-tenth natural size.) 



the tail is used as a rudder ; the legs are very short ; the feet are 

 provided with swimming membranes or webs, and are used as oars. 

 External ears are absent, and the openings of the auditory passages can 

 be closed. Like the otter and beaver, the animal, with the strong 

 claws of its toes, digs burrows on the banks of rivers. The dwelling 

 consists of a small chamber from which two passages lead out, and 

 terminate, one above and one below the surface of the water. The 

 structure of its mouth, however, at a glance distinguishes the animal 

 from the otter and the beaver. It differs from all other mammals 

 by the absence of lips, in place of which the integument of the 

 jaws is cornified and produced in the form of a beak exactly resem- 

 bling that of a duck. Like a cluck, too, the animal rummages among 

 water-plants and in the mud after worms, insect larvae, slugs, and more 



