In climbing, the tail is of the greatest service, its under-surface being clothed with pointed scales, which serve as so many climbing-hooks. The grasp of a tree-trunk gained by the hind legs and tail is so secure that the body can be moved to a horizontal position with ease. In a specimen kept in captivity by Mr. Fraser, this horizontal movement was a form of exercise which appeared to afford the greatest pleasure.

'j Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.] [North Finchley. Photo by York & Son]

PEBA ARMADILLO. KAPPLERS' ARMADILLO.

This species lives largely upon carrion, which it buries in its burrow This is a variety of the Peba Armadillo, inhabiting till wanted. Surinam.

of the World34 2 The Living Animals

THE AARD-VARK.

The custom of naming newly discovered animals after well-known forms to which they are supposed to bear some resemblance, physically or otherwise, is a common one. The animal now under consideration shows this once more, having originally received the name is a most decidedlyof AARD-VARK (Earth-pig) from the Boers of the Cape. The aard-vark is hunted for the sake of itsugly animal, and justifies its name in several particulars. It hide, which is of great thickness and resembles that of the pig, but is sparsely covered with hairs, the general shape of its body being not unlike that of a long-headed, short-legged, heavy-tailed pig. The whole animal is about 6 feet long. In a wild state, or even in captivity, it is but rarely seen, since it is a night-feeder, and passes the day in sleep deep down in a burrow. This burrow it digs for itself with the aid of powerful claws borne on the fore feet. It lives principally on ants and termites, breaking down their nests, and remorselessly sweeping up the frightened occupants with a long, sticky tongue, as soon as they rush to the seat of the disturbance which has broken up the harmony and order of their community. At one time it was believed that the aard-vark was a close ally of the pangolin, but later researches have disproved this, and have furthermore thrown doubt upon all.the probability of its relationship with any of the members of this group of mammals at

There are two species of this animal the CAPE AARD-VARK of South and South-east Africa, and the ETHIOPIAN AARD-VARK of North-east Africa.

Where the nest-building ants are most common, there will the aard-vark or Innagus, as the Boers sometimes call it be most plentiful. The nests of these ants are huge structures of from 3 to 7 feet high, and often occupy vast areas of ground, extending as far as the eye can reach. They are substantially built, and swarm with occupants, and consequently are less common since a price hasquite worth raiding. But the aard-vark has become much been set upon its skin. The powers of digging of these animals are so great that they can completely bury their large bodies in a few minutes, even when the ground has been baked by the sun into something like adamantine hardness. In excavating their burrows, the ground is thrown out by the fore feet, in huge lumps, through or rather between the hind legs. Shy and suspicious, the least unusual sound will send them scuttling to earth, for their sense of hearing is very keen. They seem to change their minds somewhat frequently, when engaged in digging out a new burrow; for half-excavated burrows in the side of ant-hills is about 6 feet long generally ratherare very commonly met with. A fully grown aard-vark more. Although this animal is frequently kept in captivity, it is but rarely seen by visitors, owing to its nocturnal habits, of which we have already spoken.

The teeth of the aard-vark are sufficiently remarkable to justify notice here. Only the crushing teeth are represented that is to say, the front or cutting teeth are conspicuous by their absence. These crushing teeth number from eight to ten in the upper and eight in the lower jaw, on each side; but in the adult fewer would be found, the number being reduced to five in each side of the jaws that is to say, there are but twenty all told. In structure these teeth are quite remarkable, differing entirely from those of all other mammals, and resembling those of '*some fishes; further- ^^^^^^ |HR^' more, they have no " roots," but instead. grow i continuallyt IT i T By permission of the. Hon. Walter llothsckild] [Tring. throughout life, which CAPE AARD-VAEK. *' rooted teeth do The ants upon which the aard-vark largely subsists appear to be very fattening, and impart a delicate flavour not. to the flesh, especially to the hams, which are greatly esteen.ed.

Photo by Billingtons Wueenslarut.

THE GREAT GREY KANGAROO.

The massive hind limbs and tail of the animal constitute, in its characteristic resting pose, a most efficient supporting tripod. 343

CHAPTER XXII.

MARSUPIALS AND MONOTREMES.

BY W. SAVILLE-KENT, F.L.S., F.Z.S.

MARSUPIALS. the order of the Pouched Mammals we arrive with the exception of the Echidna and Platypus, next described at the most simply organised representatives of theWITH

Mammalian Class. In the two forms above named, egg-production, after the manner of birds and reptiles, constitutes the only method of propagation. Although among marsupials so rudimentary a method of reproduction is not met with, the young are brought into the world in a far more embryonic condition than occurs among any of the mammalian groups previously enumerated. There is, as a matter of fact, an entire absence of that vascular or blood connection betwixt the parent and young previous to birth, known as placentation, common to all the higher mammals, though certain of the more generalised forms have been recently found to possess a rudiment of such development. In correlation with their abnormally premature birth, it may be observed that a special provision commonly exists for the early nurture of the infant marsupials. In such a form as the Kangaroo, for example, the young one is placed, through the instrumentality of its parent's lips, in contact with the food-supplying teat, and to which for some considerable period it then becomes inseparably attached. Special muscles exist in connection with the parent's mammary glands for controlling the supply of milk to the young animal, while the respiratory organs of the little creature are temporarily modified in order to ensure unimpeded life being respiration. The fact of the young in their early commonly found thus inseparably adhering to the parent's nipple has given rise to the falacious but still very widely prevalent idea among the Australian settlers that the embryo marsupial is ushered into the world as a direct outgrowth from the mammary region.

At the present day, with the exception of the small group of the American Opossums and the Selvas, the entire assemblage of marsupials, comprising some 36 genera and 150 species, are, singularly to relate, exclusively found in Australia, New Guinea, and the few neighbouring islands recognised by systematic zoologists as pertaining to the Australasian region. What is more, this region of Australasia produces, with some few insignificant exceptions, chiefly rodents, no other indigenous mammals. Photo by Billington]

It is interesting to note that SILVER-GREY KANGAROO. -within the limits of this isolated In general form the kangaroos are so like one another that one figure would almost serve for all. 344

Marsupials and Monotremes 345

and anciently founded marsupial order we have an epitome, as it were, of many of the more important groups of an equivalent classificatory value that are included among the higher mammalia previously described. In this relationship we find in the so-called Tasmanian Wolf, the Tasmanian Devil, and the " Native Cats " carnivorous and eminently predatory forms whose habits and general conformation are immediately comparable to those of the typical Carnivora. The Bandicoots, Banded Ant-eater, and Phascogales recall in a similar manner the higher Insectivora. In the tree-frequenting Opossums and Phalangers the external likeness and conformity in habits to the arboreal rodents is notably apparent, several of the species, moreover, possessing a parachute-like flying-membrane essentially identical with that which is found in the typical Flying-squirrels. An example in which the ground-frequenting or burrowing rodents are closely approached is furnished by the Australian Wombat, an animal which may be appropriately likened to an overgrown and lethargic Marmot. In

Photo by E. Landor] \Ealing. this form, moreover, the rodent-like BLACK-STRIPED WALLABY. character of the dentition is especially Female with half-grown young in her pouch. noteworthy. The higher grass-eating

mammals find their counterparts in the family group of the Kangaroos, in which, in addition to their essentially herbivorous habits, the contour of the head and neck, together with the expressive eyes and large expanding ears, are wonderfully suggestive of the various members of the Deer Family. The Cuscuses of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, both in form and habits, somewhat resemble their geographical neighbours, the Lorises, belonging to the Lemur Tribe, compared with which higher mammals, however, they possess the advantage Photo by J. T. Newman] [Herkhamsted. of an eminently serviceable pre- BENNETT'S WALLABY AND THE GREAT GREY KANGAROO. hensile tail The Australian This photograph illustrates the relative sizes of these two species. 44

Koala, or so-called “Native Bear,” has been commonly compared by zoologists with the Edentate Sloths; while in the most recently discovered marsupial, the Pouched Mole, we have a counterpart, in both form and habits, of the familiar European species. Finally, in the small American section of the Marsupialia, we meet with a type—the so-called Yapock, or Water-opossum—in which the resemblances to an Otter, in both aspect and its aquatic habits, are so marked that the animal was originally regarded as a species only of the Otter Tribe.

The character of the marsupium, or pouch, differs materially among the various members of their order. It presents its most conspicuous and normal development in such animals as the Kangaroos, Wallabies, and the Australian Opossums or Phalangers. In the Tasmanian Wolf and the Bandicoots the pouch opens backwards. In such forms as the Phascogale, or Pouched Mouse, the pouch is reduced to a few rudimentary skin-folds, while in the Banded Anteater its position is occupied by a mere patch of longer hairs, to which the helpless young ones cling. On the same lucus a non lucendo principle there is no trace of a pouch in the Koala, nor in those smaller species of the American Opossums which habitually carry their young upon their back. Even in these pouchless marsupials, however, the peculiar marsupial bones are invariably present, and in all other essential details their accord with the marsupial type of organisation and development is fully maintained.

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