198 



THE PREDACEOUS MARSUPIALS. 



in the front of the mouth. The canines are 

 indeed recurved, but are altogether less highly 

 developed; the lower incisors are inclined 

 forwards. In the upper jaw the fifth incisor 

 is separated from the others by an interval, 

 while the inner ones are all very close-set. 



The Bandicoots, as the members of the 

 genus Perameles are called by the Australian 



Fig. 250. — The Long-nosed Bandicoot {Perameles nasula). 



colonists, take in Australia the place of the 

 African Macroscelida or elephant -shrews, 

 which they resemble in the possession of a 

 tapering head running out into a movable 

 proboscis, large ears (mostly naked), short 

 fore-legs, long but strong hind-legs, and long 

 tail, which is seldom thickly haired. Con- 

 siderable differences, however, are at once 

 recognizable. The great toe of the fore-feet 

 (the pollex) is replaced by a wart or tubercle, 

 which is usually without a nail. The fifth 

 digit scarcely projects at all, but usually carries 

 a flat nail. Only the three middle digits are 

 free and armed with strong claws. The fore- 

 legs are remarkably short, and are pressed 

 close to the breast when the animals- are in 



the act of leaping. In the hind-legs the great 

 toe (the hallux) is entirely absent; the second 

 and third digits are very thin and united to- 

 gether as far as the claws; the fourth and fifth 

 digits, on the contrary, are well developed, and 

 their claws are powerful. As in all jumpers 

 the ankle (tarsus) is very long. The opening 

 of the pouch in the bandicoots is behind. 





mmmr 



Fig. 251. — The'Pig^footed Perameles [Ch&roptis castanotus). 



1 



The species represented in fig. 250, the 

 Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasutd), is 

 distinguished from its allies by its long pro- 

 boscis-like nose, its large ears, and the fallow- 

 gray colour of its coarse hair, a colour darker 

 on the back than on the under parts. It lives, 

 like the other bandicoots, in the mountainous 

 and cool districts of Australia, is social in its 

 habits, and digs holes in the ground, into 

 which it darts for refuge when the slightest 

 noise is heard. It catches insects in the act 

 of jumping, and though these form its principal 

 food it does not despise juicy roots, fruits, and 

 seeds. The long-nosed bandicoot is 14 inches 

 long from the tip of the snout to the root of 

 the tail, and the tail measures about 6 inches. 



