THE POUCHED BADGERS. 



199 



The degradation of the feet has advanced 

 still further in die genus Cheeropus. The only 

 species represented in this work, the Pig- 

 footed Perameles {Chceropus castanotus), fig. 

 251, was formerly erroneously denied to have 

 a tail, because the example first found hap- 

 pened to be maimed 

 in this respect. As 

 regards the structure 

 of the body this ani- 

 mal is a bandicoot, 

 but the fore-limbs are 

 longer and thinner, 

 and have only two 

 long toes with rather 

 short claws. A third 

 toe with a short claw 

 placed very far back 

 is properly only the 

 degraded metacarpal 

 bone. The long and 

 slender hind-foot has 

 only a single strong 

 toe with a solid well- 

 formed claw. Two 

 other greatly reduced 

 toes with extremely 

 minute claws are situ- 

 ated on the outer 

 side, another of simi- 

 lar form on the inside. 

 The middle toe is ac- 

 cordingly the only 

 one that is perfectly developed 

 of moderate length. 



The pig-footed perameles has long soft hair 

 of a dark brownish-gray colour on the back, 

 rather lighter on the belly; the back of the 

 tail is black. The animal inhabits the steppes 

 on the banks of the Murray River in New 

 South Wales, builds a nest of twigs, and 

 appears to feed chiefly on insects. It attains 

 a length of only about 1 2 inches in the body, 

 with a tail of rather less than 5 inches. 



Between the bandicoots and the following 

 families stands the Banded Ant-eater (Myrme- 



Fig. 252. — The Banded Ant-eater {Myrmecotius fasciatus) 



The tail is 



cobius fasciatus), fig. 252, of which an illustra- 

 tion is furnished. It is an inhabitant of the 

 south and west of Australia, and attains 

 about the same size as the stoat. The 

 dentition of this pretty little creature is very 

 remarkable; it is closely allied to that of 



certain marsupials of 

 the Jurassic period. 

 In each half of each 

 jaw there are six 

 molars with several 

 cusps on the crown, 

 three premolars with 

 triangular cusps, and 

 a not very prominent 

 canine. Then there 

 are in the upper jaw 

 four incisors, but in 

 the lower only three, 

 so that the entire 

 number of teeth 

 amounts to fifty-four, 

 a number which is not 

 exceeded by any liv- 

 ing marsupial. The 

 dental formula is 



i-- ' • 3 • 6 = 54 . 



The banded ant- 

 eater is a very ele- 

 gant creature, with a 

 tapering head and 

 pointed paper-cornet- 

 shaped ears. Its fore-feet are five-toed, and 

 the hind-feet carry four free toes armed with 

 sharp claws. In running the animal carries 

 its long bushy tail as squirrels do. The 

 female has no pouch, but has eight teats 

 arranged in a circle. The long thick hair is 

 dark-coloured on the back, and passes behind 

 from a fallow-gray into black. The throat 

 has an ochre-yellow and the belly a whitish 

 colour; on the sides the general dark colour 

 is varied by light transverse stripes. The 

 animal lives chiefly on ants, which it snaps 

 up with its long adhesive tongue. 



