94 



ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



2. DlDELPHIS CRASSICAUDATA. 





Plate XXX. 



Didelphis crassicaudata, Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. 2d Ed. ix. p. 425. 



Mammalogie, p. 257, Species 393. 



Microure troisieme, ou Macroure a grosse queue, Azara, Essais sur l'Histoire Nat. des 



Quad, dela Province de Paraguay, vol. i. p. 284. 



D. capite brevi; auribus parvis ; colore corporis fuscescenti-Jlavo subtus pallidiore ; 

 infra oculos jiavescente ; caudd crassd, caput corpusque, quoad longitudinem, ferd 

 cequante; ad basin corporis colore tincta, dein nigra, ad apicem alba. 



Description. — Head short; ears small, the posterior edge emarginated near the 

 base, distinctly furnished with hairs ; tail slightly exceeding the body in 

 length, very thick at the base ; tarsi small ; fur moderately long, slightly 

 harsh, and somewhat adpressed (much less woolly than in most Opossums) : 

 general tint brownish yellow, under parts paler ; anterior angle of the eye 

 and muzzle brown, the tip of the chin, and also the tip of the muzzle on either 

 side whitish; on the cheeks, a little below the eyes, is a patch of yellow which 

 extends round the angle of the mouth : about one-third of the tail is covered 

 with fur of the same colour and character as that on the body ; beyond this 

 the tail is black, excepting a small portion, about one inch in length, at 

 the apex, which is white; and the hairs are short, closely adpressed, 

 and scarcely hide the scales which are beneath : the fore portion of each 

 foot is brown : the hairs covering the ears on the outer side are brownish, 



■ 



and those on the inner side of the ear are yellow, but towards the outer 

 margin they are brown. The hairs of the back have the basal half gray, and 

 the apical half ochreous, terminating in yellowish brown ; on the belly and 

 underside of neck, the hairs are ochreous, faintly tinted with gray at the 



base. 





Length from nose to root of tail 



of tail 



from nose to ear 



In. 

 1 



10 



Lines. 



3 

 3 



Length of tarsus 



of ear 



2 



li 





In. Lines 

 1 5^ 



6 







Habitat, Maldonado, La Plata, (June). 



Macroure 



agrees so perfectly with the present animal, that I have no hesitation in referring 



