SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 17 Meat- and Insect-eating Marsupials.
Family Dasyurid^ Wolf-like, weasel-like, and rat-like marsupials have all of the toes independent. Four incisor teeth are seen on each side of the upper jaw, three in the lower one; the cheek-teeth have sharp cusps and the upper ones are usually triangular in shape. The Marsupial "Wolf," "Tiger," or Thylacine (Thylacinus) , now confined to Tasmania and possibly approaching extinction Fig. 5— Marsupial ''Wolf there, is the counterpart among marsupials of the true wolf. The snout is rather long, the ears shorter and lower than those of northern dogs and wolves, and the tail is thick at the base, long and tapered. Its color is brown, with a series of blackish brown stripes parallel to the ribs, which begin near the shoulders, reach their maximum length in the rump and thighs, and cease a short way beyond the base of the tail. The pouch, opening backward, contains four nipples. Two to four young are born.
The marsupial wolf is about the size of a collie dog ; its overall length is sixty-five inches, including the twenty-inch tail.
18 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD In the natural state these animals probably ate wallabies and other Tasmanian mammals, but as they took to killing sheep in numbers after their introduction, they were nearly exterminated. The animals are nocturnal, spending the day concealed in dens in hilly country. They are reported to be shy, but if cornered to turn savagely on dogs employed to hunt them. The voice consists of a series of "husky or guttural coughing barks." Fig. 6 — Tasmanian Devil Fossil evidence proves that these marsupials were widely distributed in Australia before the advent there of man. The Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus) is a somewhat ungainly animal, colored blackish, with a few white spots on chest, sides, and rump. The hind quarters are weak and the tail is considerably shorter than the body, but the jaws are exceedingly powerful. The pouch, which contains two pairs of teats, opens backward. The total length is forty inches, including the twelve-inch tail.
Tasmanian devils are markedly carnivorous, raiding chicken roosts and possibly killing young sheep. Their natural food
SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 19 consists of small wallabies, rats, ground birds, and lizards. The animals are cunning, intractable, and savage but if caught very young make docile and amusing pets. They are found now only in Tasmania, but formerly inhabited the Australian mainland.
The Marsupial "Cats" or "Tiger Cats" or Dasyures (Dasyurus), which comprise several species, look more weasel-like than *- ^.-iJT Fig. 7— Marsupial ''Cat'' cat-like. They are the size of a small cat or the American little spotted skunk — about nineteen inches in total length, including the tail which is about nine inches. They are reddish brown or olive-brown in color, marked with white spots on the head and body. A well-developed pouch is present in females, which may contain four to six young. The dasyures feed largely on rats, birds, and insects. Around settlements they are disliked because of their fondness for poultry. The marsupial "cats" or dasyures are widely distributed in Australia. One species occurs on New Guinea but does not extend to the adjacent islands.
20 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD The Marsupial "Mice" (Phascogale, Dasyuroides, and allies) live chiefly on insects, but they may also eat flesh and some vegetable matter. They are the size of rats and mice, nine to sixteen and one-half inches in total length. The tail is three and three-fourths to eight inches long, usually less than the length of head and body, but in some species it is equal to this or slightly longer. The snout is long and pointed, and the tail in some species is densely haired, as in tree shrews. The females of some species have pouches. Those of others have poorly marked folds of skin around the area of the mammse. In certain species of Sminthopsis, one of which is found in New Guinea and the Aru Islands, the thickened tail serves for storage of fat. One genus (Antechinomys), which has developed long legs, hops like a jumping mouse. The New Guinea marsupial mice are less varied and specialized than those of Australia. Banded Anteaters. Family Myemecobiid^ The banded anteater {Myrmecohius) is a specialized relative of the marsupial "cats." Externally it resembles a longsnouted ground squirrel. Its rather harsh coat is colored bright rufous brown above and whitish beneath. On the back, parallel to the ribs, is a series of six or seven white stripes. It has long claws but does not make burrows. The tongue can be extended far out of the mouth. Myrmecohius is peculiar in possessing more than the usual number of teeth; an extra molar can be seen in each jaw. No pouch remains; the nipples are four in number. The food consists principally of termites which are swallowed whole.
This beautiful little animal is now found only in southwestem Australia and appears there to be threatened with extinction. A second species which occurred in Victoria and New South Wales has not been seen for many years. Bandicoots. Family Peramelid^ The bandicoots have in general long, narrow feet with long claws, tapered, pointed snouts, and rather short tails. The
SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 21 pouch opens backward. The less specialized bandicoots occur in New Guinea and nearby islands ; more specialized types — the rabbit bandicoot and the pig-footed bandicoot — are found in Australia only.
The Australian Bandicoot (Perameles), which includes also the banded bandicoots of southern Australia, has rather coarse gray-brown pelage and moderately large ears. These animals are nocturnal insect-eaters, and generally inoffensive. Their total length is about twenty inches.
The Spiny Bandicoot of New Guinea (Echymipera), also gray-brown, occurs all over that island below three thousand feet and also on the Bismarcks, Japan, Waigeu, Aru, and Kei. The size is variable — from ten to twenty inches. The Long-legged Bandicoot {Peroryctes raff ray ana) occurs only in New Guinea. The adult size is about thirty inches from nose to tip of tail, of which the tail accounts for about eight inches. The mountain bandicoot, a smaller relation (P. dorsalis), has finer fur and a black stripe along the middle of the back.
The Ceram Bandicoot (Rhynchomeles) is much like Peroryctes.
The Short-faced Bandicoots (Isoodon) are light gray-brown in color. The hair is wiry and not at all spiny. The tail is proportionally long. The total length is eighteen inches, of which the tail measures seven inches. Widely dispersed in northern Australia, with representation in the savannas of southern New Guinea and Port Moresby, these bandicoots are characteristic of grassy regions.
The Shrew Bandicoot (Microperoryctes), found only in the mountains of Dutch New Guinea, is black. It is exceptionally small, measuring about nine inches from nose to tip of tail. The Rabbit Bandicoot or Bilby (Macrotis) is one of the oddities of nature. It is a soft-haired, pale gray-brown bandicoot with white underparts, with a well-haired, moderately long tail and very large, rabbit-like ears. Two kinds are known, both from the southern half of Australia. The total
22 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WOELD Fig. 8 — Rabbit Bandicoot length is twenty-seven inches, with the tail measuring nine inches.
The Pig-footed Bandicoot (Chosropus) has feet with claws less pointed and more hoof-like than have others of the family. The ears are quite large, although not so large as those of the rabbit bandicoot. Unlike its insect-eating relatives, this bandicoot feeds wholly on leaves, bulbs, and fruits. The total length is fourteen inches, including the four-inch tail. It was found formerly through the greater part of Australia, except the north, but now is in danger of extinction.
Marsupial Mole. Family Notoryctid^ The Marsupial Mole (Notoryctes) is highly peculiar and primitive, possibly an offshoot of the bandicoot family. The eyes and external ears are obsolete. The hands, provided with heavy claws, are adapted for excavating soil, and the feet are used to drive loosened earth backward in the burrow. The snout and tail have tough skin coverings. The pouch opens backward. The fur is fine and silky, its color yellowish white, varying to tawny. The total length is six to six and one-half inches ; tail, one inch.
Like true moles, the marsupial mole lives at high pressure,
SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 23 consuming huge amounts of food, mainly worms and insects, and spends much of its time digging.
Possums, Cuscuses, Flying Phalangers.
Family Phalangerid^ This large family includes the following general types of marsupials : possums, striped possums, mouse possums, cuscuses, ring-tails, flying possums or gliders, and honey possum. Some are squirrel-like, others lemur-like, others mouse-like, and yet others resemble flying squirrels.
The Australian Possum (Trichosurus) is one of the bestknown members of the family. Its coat has been used exten- Fig. 9 — Aicstralian Possum sively in the fur business. Although somewhat squirrel-like, these animals differ by their prehensile or grasping tails and by their large, cat-like ears and pointed noses. The head resembles that of our ring-tailed cat of the southwestern United States. The color is highly variable — gray in some races, blackish brown in others. The fur of the body and tail is dense except
24 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD on the prehensile surface. The size is approximately thirty inches from nose to tip of tail ; tail, eleven inches. It is found in most of Australia.
The Striped Possum (Dactylopsila) is distinctly marked lengthwise with three broad black stripes on a whitish gray ground color — a very conspicuous pattern. The tail is whitish. Fig. 10 — Striped Possum The head and ears are formed much like those of the common possum but the tail has even less tactile surface; the fourth finger of the hand is the longest. The total length is about twenty inches, of which nearly one-half is tail. The animal is nocturnal ; its food is made up of fruit and insects. New Guinea is the headquarters of this species, a single race being found in northern Queensland.
A related striped possum {Dactylonax)^ found only in New Guinea, has the fourth finger of the hand drawn out into a slender probe-like structure nearly twice as long as the corresponding finger of Dactylopsila. This finger may perhaps