PHALANGERS. 
55 
The shrew-like Tarsipes, a little long-nosed animal with an 
extensile tongue, and with three distinct stripes down its back ; 
it feeds on insects and honey, and is confined to Western 
Australia. 
Fig. 21. 
Common Wombat {Phascolomys mitcJielli). 
The true Phalangers (Phalangista or Ti'ichosurus)^ cat-like 
animals, with thick fur and long bushy tails ; the finely-marked 
Striped [Dactylupsila trivirgata) of New Guinea; the 
Dormouse Phalangers [Dromicia) ; the Bare-tailed Phalangers 
[Cuscus or Phalanger) ; and, finally, the Flying Phalangers (^Petau- 
7'us), which, like the flying squirrels, have a lateral extension of the 
skin of the body, forming a parachute : are all closely related to 
each other, and form the great mass of the present family. 
The Koala [Phascolarctus cinereus) is a curious species, some- 
what similar, in its general appearance, to a little bear, but is 
entirely a vegetable feeder, living chiefly on the leaves of the 
Eucalyptus. It is of a harmless and peaceable disposition, of about 
the same size as the W^ombats, with long ashy-grey hair, tufted 
ears, no tail, and five toes on each of its feet. 
3. The Wombats (^Phascolomyidae) (fig. 21) are large clumsily- 
built animals, somewhat resembling marmots in their general form ; 
they have short, rounded heads, short ears, scarcely any tail, and 
long powerful claws with which they dig their burrows. There 
