LOWER JAW OF THE WOMBAT.
The number of the persistent teeth is as follows:—Incisors, 22; true molars, 4–44–4. It is the only Marsupial which has an equal number of incisors in both jaws. There are no canines. As the Wombat uses much force in gnawing, the muscles of the jaws and their bony attachments are large; consequently the temporal ridges are strongly marked. There is a deep and strong zygomatic arch, and in the lower jaw the turned-in angle is of great size. The chin is also large, and the joint of the jaw also. The sutures of the bones of the skull are scarcely ever obliterated, and the auditory “bullæ” are formed in the temporal bone. With regard to the marsupial bones, they are long, flat, curved, and, moreover, less expanded near their attachment to the pubis. The ribs are fifteen in number on each side, and the collar-bones are large and stout. There is a curious power of movement of the ankle, so that the foot can imitate the turning movements of the wrist and fore-arm of man. This pronation and supination is because the small bone of the leg, the fibula, is free and not attached to the other bone (tibia), and because there is a muscle whose action is to move the fibula after the fashion of the corresponding muscle in the fore limb. The stomach is smaller than in the Kangaroos, and has a large gland.
TEETH OF THE WOMBAT.
A, Upper Jaw; B, Lower Jaw; C, Molar.
The Wombat has been found in South Australia, Van Diemen’s Land, Bass Strait, and in New South Wales.
CHAPTER II.
THE PHALANGER, POUCHED BADGER, AND DASYURE FAMILIES.
THE PHALANGER FAMILY—[THE KOALA]—Habits—Characteristics—[THE CUSCUS]—[THE VULPINE PHALANGER]—[THE DORMOUSE PHALANGER]—Habits—Remarkable Characters—[THE FLYING PHALANGERS]—Its Flying Machine—Habits—[THE SQUIRREL FLYING PHALANGERS]—Habits—The Parachute-like Membrane—Exciting Scene on board a Vessel—Characteristics—[THE OPOSSUM MOUSE]—[THE NOOLBENGER, OR TAIT]—A Curiosity among Marsupials—Distinctive Features—THE POUCHED BADGER FAMILY—Characteristics—[THE RABBIT-EARED PERAMELES]—[THE BANDICOOT]—[THE BANDED PERAMELES]—[THE PIG-FOOTED PERAMELES]—Discussion regarding it—Characteristics—[THE DASYURUS FAMILY]—Characteristics—[THE POUCHED ANT-EATERS]—[THE BANDED MYRMECOBIUS]—Description—Great number of Teeth—History—Food—Habits—Range—[THE URSINE DASYURE]—Appearance—“Native Devil”—Ferocity—Havoc among the Sheep of the Settlers—Trap to Catch them—Its Teeth—A True Marsupial, though strikingly like the Carnivora—Skeletal Characters peculiar to itself—[MAUGE’S DASYURE]—[THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS]—Description—Resemblance to the Dog—Habits—Peculiarities—[THE BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOGALE]—Description—Other Varieties.
III.—THE PHALANGER FAMILY.—THE PHALANGISTIDÆ.
THE loftiest of the gum-trees of the country from Moreton Bay to Port Phillip, and even more widely than this, were often the familiar haunt of a small Marsupial animal, not unlike a little Bear, about two feet in length, and without a tail. It is a famous tree-climber, and its stout body, small head, short limbs, and well-developed feet, are all cased in an ash-grey fur. It has moderate-sized ears, which are hidden by the long hair of the head, and it has a short and nearly naked black muzzle. The eye is large and without eyelashes. The natives climb up the trees after it, according to Mr. Gould, with as much ease and expertness as an European would get up a long ladder, and having reached the branch, perhaps forty or fifty feet from the ground, they follow the animal to the extremity of a bough, and either kill it or take it alive. This animal is called the KOALA, and it feeds on the tender shoots of the blue gum in preference to those of any others, and it rests and feeds in the boughs. At night it descends and prowls about, scratching up the ground in search of some peculiar roots, and it seems to creep rather than to walk. When angry it utters a long, shrill yell, and assumes a fierce and menacing look. They are found in pairs, and the young soon learn to perch on the mother’s shoulders. Mr. Gould says that, unlike most quadrupeds, the Koala does not flee upon the approach of man, and that it is very tenacious of life. Even when severely wounded it will not quit its hold of the branch upon which it may be. The animal has a nice thick fur, which nearly hides the ears, and the pouch is large. A careful examination of the animal shows that it differs from the Kangaroos and Wombats; it is more like the latter than the former, but it is sufficiently distinct to be placed in another family, the Phalangers, in which the incisors are six above and two below, and there are two canines in the upper jaw, and in some, two in the lower jaw, but not in all. There are two premolars above and below, and either six or eight molars in the upper and lower jaws. The head is rather small, and the face is short, the upper lip being cleft. The limbs are equal; the fore feet have five well-made toes with compressed and curved claws; the hind feet have five toes, of which the first or inner one is large, nailless, and at right angles to the rest, and opposable to them. The second and third toes are shorter than the others, and are united in a common skin, and they have nails. The fourth and fifth toes are curved and have compressed claws. The name Phalangista is derived from this union by skin of the phalanges of the foot. The tail may be absent, or long, and more or less prehensile, but sometimes not.
