FORE (A) AND HIND (B) FOOT OF HYPSIPRYMNUS.
Sir R. Owen investigated the anatomy of a small Kangaroo-Rat which had been described by Mr. Ramsay in Australia, and which was remarkable for its musky smell. It is a long and slender-bodied little animal, measuring about one foot three inches and a half from the snout to the end of the tail, which is five inches and nine lines in the female, and rather less in the male. Its hinder legs are shorter, and the head is more slender and pointed than in the Kangaroo-Rats just described. The fur is of moderate length, pretty closely applied, and has numerous rather long hairs scattered here and there, the visible portions being black or blackish, or pointed. These are relieved by the dark and light-barred colour of the visible part of the shorter hairs, all the hairs being of a leaden-greyish tint at the skin. The upper surface of the body has a close and stiff fur of rich golden colour, mixed with black; the head, face, and lower parts of the legs are dark brownish-grey; and there are a few patches of white along the centre of the throat and chest. The fur covers the tail for half an inch or more, and then the rest is naked, and covered with a network of scales about three to a line in length. The scales are black above, and a few minute and very short hairs project from the interstices of the scales. The animal has a naked muffle and rounded ears. The hind foot is remarkable, for whilst the skull and dentition of the creature would associate it more with the Kangaroo-Rats, the position of the first toe (wanting in the Kangaroo-Rats) resembles somewhat that of the Phalangista group, or the Phalangers, which will be noticed further on. The sole of the foot is long, and there is a nailless projecting first toe, like a thumb; next come the second and third toes—small, united by skin, and leaving the two combing-nails visible; and then the largest, or fourth toe, is followed by a smaller fifth. Sir R. Owen judged that this animal was an occasional climber of trees, but that its usual locality was on the ground. Mr. Ramsay states that it lives in the Rockingham Bay district, and that it frequents the dense and damp positions of the scrubs which fringe the rivers and clothe the sides of the coast range. Its habits are diurnal, and its movements are graceful. It procures its food by turning over the rubbish in search of insects, worms, and tuberous roots, frequently eating the palm-berries, which it holds with its fore paws, after the manner of the Phalangers, sitting up on its haunches, or sometimes digging. They have a pouch, and two young ones have been found in it. Considering the importance of the great toe to the animal, and its linking together the climbing and jumping Marsupials, Sir R. Owen acknowledged the necessity of recognising Mr. Ramsay’s name of Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, and of thus bringing in a new genus into a new family in the Kangaroo series with two large front teeth in the lower jaw.[97]
II.—THE WOMBAT FAMILY.—THE PHASCOLOMYIDÆ.
THE WOMBAT.[98]
SKELETON OF THE WOMBAT.
On looking at a picture of a Wombat, the outside distinctions between it and all the Kangaroo family may be seen at a glance, and an examination of its anatomy affords still greater evidence of differences which, to a certain extent, relate to the fact that the animal now under consideration is a burrower and gnawer. About two to three feet in length, the Wombat has only a small stump of a tail, a low body, small feet, and strong limbs, ending in broad extremities, well provided with claws. It has moderately long and coarse fur of a grey-brown colour, and there is some white about the short ears, and the feet are black. It is usually a plump animal, with a bare black muzzle, and feet naked beneath, and covered with little tubercles of flesh. The claws are large, and those of the fore feet (five in number) are solid and but little curved, whilst the four on the hind feet are curved and concave beneath. It has long moustache hairs, and plenty of them. Sir Everard Home had one, and he found that its principal desire was to get into the ground, and to do this it worked with great skill and rapidity, covering itself with earth with surprising quickness. It was very quiet during the day, but was in constant motion during the night; was very sensible of cold; ate all vegetables, and was particularly fond of new hay, which it ate stalk by stalk, taking it into its mouth like a Bear, in small bits at a time. It was not wanting in intelligence, and appeared attached to those to whom it was accustomed, and who were kind to it. When it saw them, it would put up its fore-paws on their knees, and when taken up would sleep on the lap. It allowed children to pull and carry it about, and when it bit them it did not appear to do so in anger or with violence. When wild, the Wombat hides up during the day, and quits its retreat at night, to dig and get grass and roots. It is by no means an active animal, and shuffles along like a Bear. The Wombat has a slit-like, imperfect marsupium, and the special peculiarities of its order, such as marsupial bones, the inflected lower jaw, and double uterus. On the hind foot the innermost or first toe is very small, nailless, and placed at right angles to the foot, and the second, third, and fourth toes are joined by skin, and have larger claws than the small fifth toe. The stomach is simple, and has a peculiar glandular apparatus, and the cæcum is short, and has an appendage as in man and some monkeys. The teeth are remarkable for their number in relation to those of the Kangaroos, and for having no rootlets. The incisor teeth greatly resemble those of a Rodent, like the Rat. They are two in number in each jaw, and are widely separated from the other teeth. The molars are long, curved, and, like the incisors, have no true fangs, but persistent pulps. They are divided into two nearly equal parts by a fold of the enamel entering deeply into the body of the tooth on one side, and a slight indentation on the opposite side.
WOMBAT.
