MARSUPIALS, 
247 
(MyrmecoMus), but the most characteristic Australian ani- 
mals are the different kinds of kangaroo {Macropus tlieti- 
dis, Fig. 286). 
The largest species, if. giganteits, is 1.8 metres, or nearly 
six feet long, being as large as a sheep and sometimes weigh- 
ing 140 pounds. Like other kangaroos^ it goes in herds, 
and moves by a succession of long leaps, clearing obstacles 
seven or eight feet high. 
All marsuj)ials are stupid, low in intelligence, and, in 
those which eat flesh, of vicious temper. With the excep- 
tion of the opossums, all are confined to Australia, New 
Zealand, and New Guinea. 
Sub-Class III. Monodelphia. 
General Characters of Placental Mammals. — The mem- 
bers of this group are called placental Mammalia, because 
the young at birth are of considerable size and nearly per- 
fect in development, being nourished until born by a highly 
vascular mass or thick membrane {placenta) supplied with 
arteries and veins, developed originally from the allantois, 
which is a temporary embryonic membrane. The brain, 
as a rule, is higher than that of any of the preceding mam- 
mals. 
Orders of Placental Mammals. 
1. No incisor teeth ; sometimes entire- 
m ly toolliless Bruta: Slotli, etc. 
2. Rodents; with large incisor teeth. . Glires: Rat, etc. 
'6. Fore limbs often adapted for bur- 
rowing; teeth sharp; feeding on 
insects Inseciivora: Moles, etc. 
4. Fore limbs long, webbed, and 
adapted for flying Chiroptera: Bats. 
with all its limbs supple, as if just dead; nor v/ould any kicks, cuffs, 
or handlings avail to produce the least token of life, not the opening 
of an eyehd, or the moving of a foot." The only sign of life is the 
tip of the prehensile tail, the end of which remains coiled up ; in 
death this would be relaxed permanently. 
