Page:The mammals of Australia Gould vol 1.djvu/99

 Geoff.

Long-nosed Perameles.

Perameles nasuta, Geoff. Ann. du Museum, tom. iv. p. 62. pi. 44.—Waterh. in Jard. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. xi. (Marsupialia) p. 155. pi. 13.—Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 96.—Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 374.

—— Lawsoni, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l'Uranie, Zoologie, pp. 57 & 711.

—— nasuta et aurita of the Paris Museum.

this animal inhabits the portion of Australia which has been longest known to us, it is remarkable how little is the information that has been obtained respecting it; I procured many specimens during my sojourn in the country, and ascertained that it is sparingly dispersed over the districts lying between the mountain ranges and the sea. It frequents stony and sterile localities, and in all parts of this character, even in the neighbourhood of Sydney, it occurs as frequently as elsewhere. It is perhaps the largest species of the genus yet discovered, and is distinguished from every other by the great length of its snout, which circumstance has obtained it the specific appellation of nasuta. I have never met with this species in collections from any other part of Australia than New South Wales: I mention this because Dr. Gray considers the Perameles Bougainvillii of MM. Quoy and Gaimard, which inhabits Western Australia, to be identical with it; hut, in my opinion, such is not the case. Independently of the genus Paragalea, there are two other very distinct sections of the Peramelinæ, one of them inhabiting low swampy grounds covered with dense vegetation; the other, the stony ridges of the hotter and more exposed parts: the former is represented by the Perameles obesula and its allies, the latter by the beautiful banded group comprising P. fasciata, P. Gunni, P. myosurus. &c. To this latter section the present species, though destitute of the dorsal markings, also belongs.

The food of this animal consists of bulbous and other roots, which it readily obtains by means of its powerful fore feet and claws.

The sexes, as is usual with the other members of the family, do not differ in colour, but the female never attains the size of the male.

The fur, which is almost entirely composed of harsh, flattened hairs with a scanty under-fur of finer hairs, is of a pale grey on the upper surface of the body; the longer and coarser hairs of the back are pencilled with pale brown and blackish; on the sides the black is nearly obsolete, and here, as well as on the sides of the head, the general tint is pale vinous-red; the under surface of the body is white, the hairs being uniform to the root; feet white; the fore leg is grey externally at the base, and the hind leg has a dusky patch immediately above the heel; ears clothed with very small hairs, which are whitish on the inner side, dusky on the outer, and pale brown near the anterior angle; the small stiff hairs of the tail are brownish on the upper surface and dirty-white on the under.

The front figure is of the natural size.