Page:Mammals of Australia (Gould), introduction.djvu/30

 frequents the hard grounds of the interior, over which it is dispersed from New South Wales to Western Australia. The specific term of ecaudatus, first applied to this animal in consequence of the specimen characterized being destitute of the caudal appendage, must now sink into a synonym, that organ being as well developed in this as in any other of the smaller quadrupeds, the Perameles for instance, to which this singular animal is somewhat allied.

The root-feeding Dalgyte, or Peragalea lagotis, leads us still nearer to the genus Perameles: the fauna of Western Australia is greatly enriched by the addition of this beautiful species. I believe that South Australia may also lay claim to it; for I have seen a tail, said to have been obtained on the south coast, which greatly resembled that of the Swan River Peragalea; but it may have pertained to an allied animal with which we are not yet acquainted.

The members of the restricted genus Perameles are numerous in species, and universally dispersed over the whole of Australia and Van Diemen's Land; they also extend in a northerly direction to New Guinea and the adjacent islands. Of this genus there are two well-marked divisions: one distinguished by bands on their backs or crescentic markings across their rumps and by their diminutive tails, the other by a uniformity in their colouring. The species of the former division inhabit the hot stony ridges bordering the open plains; those of the latter the more humid forests, among grass and other dense vegetation. Figures of most of these Bandicoots, as they are called, and an account of the manners, habits, and economy of each, so far as known, will be found in their proper places in the body of the work.

The Phascogales, of which there are three, namely P. penicillata, P. calura, and P. lanigera, are all natives of the southern portions of Australia, from east to west; they are, however, rather denizens of the interior than of the provinces near the coast, but the P. penicillata is alike found in both. Their dentition indicates that they are sanguinary in their disposition,—