Page:Mammalia (Beddard).djvu/165

 developed in two not very distant forms. As in the Kangaroos, the atlas is open below. ''Ph. ursinus'' has 15 ribs; the other species the normal (for Marsupials) 13. Other points of likeness will be mentioned under the description of the Koala. These animals mainly feed upon roots; they live in companies in burrows. There are three species—''Ph. ursinus, Ph. latifrons, and Ph. mitchelli''. ''Ph. ursinus'' is Tasmanian in range, the other two species South Australian.



'''Sub-Fam. 4. Tarsipedinae.'—The genus Tarsipes'' ought perhaps to be removed from the present family. There is but a single species, which is a small creature of 7 inches in total length, of which the tail measures 4 inches. The teeth are much dwindled, the formula being I 2/1 C 1/0 Pm 1/0 M 3/3 = 22. The lower incisors are procumbent. The lower jaw, moreover, has not the characteristic Marsupial inflection. The intestinal canal is without the caecum present in the remaining Phalangeridae. It is a curious fact that this aberrant little Phalanger should come from Western Australia, like the even more aberrant Myrmecobius. Like the latter also, Tarsipes has a long exsertile tongue, with which, however, it extracts honey from flowers. Probably it also catches minute insects in the corollas of the flowers. It has been proved, in fact, that in captivity at any rate the animal is insectivorous; for it has been known to eat moths.

'''Fam. 3. Epanorthidae.'''—The extinct Epanorthidae of