VULPINE PHALANGER.
THE DORMOUSE PHALANGER.[104]
This is a very small Marsupial animal, about six inches in length, including the tail, which measures nearly, if not quite, one-half. It is like a little Dormouse, with its soft fur, ashy-grey in colour, large ears, and thick tail. They are broader, not so long in the leg, and usually larger than the Dormouse, and the eyes are larger, and the upper jaw overhangs the lower. But they look just as fat and sleepy in the daytime. The habits of these animals, moreover, are much the same, for the Phalangista living in Van Diemen’s Land feeds on nuts and other similar food, which they hold in their fore paws, using them as hands. They are nocturnal, remaining asleep during the whole day, or, if disturbed, are not easily roused into a state of activity. They come forth in the evening, and are then more easy and rapid in their movements. Some of these were kept in the Zoological Gardens of London, and it was noticed that they made great use of their tail, which is prehensile, and thus not like that of the Dormouse. They ran about a small tree, using their paws and tail to hang on by, and using the tail as a suspender when they descended. Sometimes the tail is thrown in a reverse direction, and is turned over the back, and at other times, when the weather is cold, it is rolled closely up towards the under part, and coiled up almost between the thighs. They are like little balls of fur, and are very gentle and harmless.
Mr. Gould states that another kind of these Dormouse-looking creatures is very abundant in the northern portion of Van Diemen’s Land, and that of all trees it appears to prefer the Banksia, whose numerous blossoms supply it with a never-ceasing store of food, both of insects and sweets. It undergoes a kind of hibernation somewhat similar to but not to the extent of that of the Dormouse.
These pretty little marsupials are remarkable by having only three true molar teeth in each jaw on both sides; but they have the usual two narrow, long, and pointed incisors in the lower jaw. The auditory bullæ on the base of the skull are large, and the hard palate has four openings in it. The lower jaw is slender behind, and the angular process is inflected, the process of bone being, however, slender and pointed. Their mouse-like shape is evident, but they have a large eye, and the ears are often more or less crumpled and pendent, but they start up and are erect at the least noise. There are three species of these Phalangistidæ, and they are included in a sub-genus, Dromicia. They live in Van Diemen’s Land, Western Australia, and South Australia. Some which were found in King George’s Sound district live in retreats under the dead bark of trees, and in holes in trees which have been burnt out.
THE FLYING PHALANGERS.
The next genus of the family Phalangistidæ contains the Flying Phalangers, which form the genus Petaurus. They have all the peculiarities of the Phalangers, and also a skin on the flank of the body, which is extended between the fore and hind legs, which serves to sustain the animal in the air, when descending from a height. They have a long hairy tail. The Yellow-bellied Flying Phalanger (Petaurus australis, Shaw) may be taken as the type of the genus, and is fourteen inches long in the body, and nineteen in the tail. The peculiar fold of fur, which is its flying machine, is attached to the fore leg as far as the elbow, and all down the legs to the great toe. It is common in all the brushes of New South Wales, particularly those along the coast from Port Philip to Moreton Bay. Mr. Gould states, in addition to this, “In these vast forests, trees of one kind or other are perpetually flowering, and thus offer a never-failing supply of blossoms, upon which the animal feeds. The flowers of the gum-trees, some of which are of great magnitude, are the principal favourites, and, like the rest of the genus, it is nocturnal in its habits, dwelling in holes of trees and in the hollows of branches during the day, and displaying the greatest activity at night, while running over the small leafy branches, sometimes even to their very extremities, in search of insects and the honey of the newly-opened blossoms. Its structure being ill-adapted for terrestrial habits, it seldom descends to the ground, except for the purpose of passing to a tree too distant to be attained by springing from the one it wishes to leave. The tops of the trees are traversed at a pace and with as much ease as if it were on the ground. If chased, it ascends to the highest branches, and performs enormous leaps, sweeping from tree to tree with wonderful address.”
A slight elevation gives its body an impetus, which, with the expansion of its membrane, enables it to pass to a considerable distance, always ascending a little at the extremity of the leap. By this ascent the animal is prevented from receiving the shock which it would otherwise sustain.