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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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