PERAMELES NASUTA, Geoff. 
Long-nosed Perameles. 
Perameles nasuta, Geoff. Ann. du Museum, tom. iv. p. 62. pi. 44. — Waterh. in Jard. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. xi. 
(Marsupialia) p. 155. pi. 13. — Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 96. — Waterh. Nat. Hist, 
of Mamm., vol.'i. p. 374. 
Lawsoni, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l’Uranie, Zoologie, pp. 57 & 711. 
— — nasuta et aurita of the Paris Museum. 
Although this animal inhabits the portion of Australia which has been longest known to us, it is remarkable 
how little is the information that has been obtained respecting it ; I procured many specimens during my 
sojourn in the country, and ascertained that it is sparingly dispersed over the districts lying between the 
mountain ranges and the sea. It frequents stony and sterile localities, and in all parts of this character, 
even in the neighbourhood of Sydney, it occurs as frequently as elsewhere. It is perhaps the largest 
species of the genus yet discovered, and is distinguished from every other by the great length of its snout, 
which circumstance has obtained it the specific appellation of nasuta. I have never met with this species 
in collections from any other part of Australia than New South Wales : I mention this because Dr. Gray 
considers the Perameles Bougainvillii of MM. Quoy and Gaimard, which inhabits Western Australia, to be 
identical with it ; hut, in my opinion, such is not the case. Independently of the genus Paragalea, there 
are two other very distinct sections of the Peramelince , one of them inhabiting low swampy grounds covered 
with dense vegetation ; the other, the stony ridges of the hotter and more exposed parts : the former is 
represented by the Perameles obesula and its allies, the latter by the beautiful banded group comprising 
P.fasciata, P. Gunni, P. myosurus. &c. To this latter section the present species, though destitute of the 
dorsal markings, also belongs. 
The food of this animal consists of bulbous and other roots, which it readily obtains by means of its 
powerful fore feet and claws. 
The sexes, as is usual with the other members of the family, do not differ in colour, but the female never 
attains the size of the male. 
The fur, which is almost entirely composed of harsh, flattened hairs with a scanty under-fur of finer hairs, is 
of a pale grey on the upper surface of the body ; the longer and coarser hairs of the back are pencilled with 
pale brown and blackish ; on the sides the black is nearly obsolete, and here, as well as on the sides of the head, 
the general tint is pale vinous-red ; the under surface of the body is white, the hairs being uniform to the 
root ; feet white ; the fore leg is grey externally at the base, and the hind leg has a dusky patch immediately 
above the heel ; ears clothed with very small hairs, which are whitish on the inner side, dusky on the outer, 
and pale brown near the anterior angle ; the small stiff hairs of the tail are brownish on the upper surface 
and dirty-white on the under. 
The front figure is of the natural size. 
