SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 33 New Guinea (T. browni and others) are colored dark chocolate-brown. Examples are red-necked, red-legged, red-bellied, dama, and white-throated pademelons, of which the dama alone is relatively uniform in color. The red-legged pademelon has recently been found in the extreme south of New Guinea. A distinctive species, the Short-tailed pademelon or Quokka (Setonicv), occurs in Western Australia. It is a little smaller than most ; the size from nose to tip of tail is thirty-three inches, of which the tail includes ten inches.
The Gazelle-faced Wallabies (Dorcopsis), a group found only in New Guinea, are superficially like the dark brown pademelons. They can be distinguished by their nearly naked ears and particularly by the hairs of the back of the neck which are arranged so that they lie forward from a hair-whorl just behind the shoulders, whereas in Thylogale browni the hairs begin at the back of the head and lie smoothl}^ and continuously down the neck and back. Dorcopsis is also distinguished by the greatly lengthened premolar teeth. D. brunii, the commonest of these wallabies, is a lowland species inhabiting forested areas of southern New Guinea. A second species (Z). hageni), with a thin white line down the back, is found on the northern side of New Guinea, and a tiny third species {D. macleayi) with long lax hair is known only from the high mountains of that island above ten thousand feet.
The Rock Wallabies (Petrogale and Per adore as) are small animals about the size of the pademelons. The tail is long and of more uniform thickness than in the wallabies thus far described. It is less seldom used as a third hind leg to prop up the animals' bodies. At least five types of rock wallabies are known, most with white shoulder and hip-stripes, and one with the tail distinctly ringed with dark brown {Petrogale xanthopus) .
The Nail- tailed Wallaby (Onychogale) is a distinct group of three species, all of which have a horny projection at the tip of the tail.
34 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD The Hare Wallabies {Lagostrophus, Lagorchestes), the smallest of the wallabies, are so named for their hare-like speed and their habits of crouching close and solitary on "forms," like hares. The banded hare wallaby (Lagostrophus), known only in Western Australia, is conspicuously patterned with transverse blackish marks across the back on a ground of brownish gray. The remaining species of hare wallabies (Lagorchestes) have dark backs and a wash of red on the outside of the thighs (whitish in L. conspicillatus, which has also a reddish patch around each eye).
The Tree Kangaroos (Dendrolagus) are a specialized oifshoot of the kangaroos and wallabies, whose legs, still of leaping type, have nevertheless become shorter and more massive. The foot pads are granular ; they assist in climbing. Six quite distinct species with several geographical races are known, four from New Guinea and two from Australia.
Tree kangaroos reach a total length of four feet approximately, of which the tail equals about half. All are agile climbers and some can make downward leaps of thirty feet with remarkable sureness.
Matschie's Tree Kangaroo (D. matschiei), with bright golden chestnut upperparts and golden yellow tail, appears restricted to northern New Guinea. A close relative (D. goodfellowi) with dark bands on the tail, inhabits the slopes of the central ranges of New Guinea.
Doria's Tree Kangaroo (D. dorianus) is grayish brown, with a yellow-brown patch on the rump, at the base of the tail. It lives in the central ranges of New Guinea.
The "Bear-like" Tree Kangaroo (D. ursinus) is a brownish black species, with the hair tips occasionally frosted with white. It is found only in western New Guinea.
The Grizzled Tree Kangaroo (D. inustus) is brownish gray with the hair tips heavily grizzled ; the tail is sometimes nearly all white. It is found only in the western half of New Guinea. The Australian species, Bennett's and Lumholtz's Tree
Fig. 15 — Tree Kangaroo 35
36 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD Kangaroos {D. bennetti and D. lumholtzi), are dark graybrown, the former without strong markings. Lumholtz's tree kangaroo has the legs, cheeks, and forehead clear buff color. Both live in the mountains of northern Queensland. The Rat Kangaroos (Subfamily Potoroin.e) are considerably less kangaroo-like than are the wallabies and true kangaroos. Their ears are small and rounded and the claws of the hands are large, to suit their scratching and digging habits. The hind legs are nevertheless elongate and well adapted for leaping. Three main groups occur:
The Short-nosed Rat Kangaroos (Bettongia) include four species, all of which are brownish gray with whitish underparts. The distribution of the group is limited to southeastern Australia, Tasmania, and southwestern Australia. The Rufous Rat Kangaroo {Aeyyprymnus) is the largest of the rat kangaroos. Its total length is a little less than three feet, of which the tail measures fifteen inches. It is reddish gray with underparts white.
The Long-nosed and Broad-faced Rat Kangaroos {Potorous) are all dark reddish gray, with pale underparts, and look even more rat-like than those just described. The hind foot is considerably shorter than the head, and locomotion is more nearly on all fours.
The ranges of two of the long-nosed rat kangaroos are respectively southeastern Australia (P. tridactylus) and the extreme southwest of Western Australia (P. gilberti) ; that of the broad-faced rat kangaroo (P. platyops) is southwest Western Australia.
The Musk Kangaroo {Hypsiprymnodon) is regarded as the most primitive animal of the kangaroo family. It is also the smallest. The teeth are least specialized for eating grass and leaves, and the hind foot has five toes. The first toe, absent in other kangaroos, is movable and clawless. The tail is hairless, covered with scaly skin. The musk kangaroo is dark reddish brown, slightly paler beneath. The total length is eighteen
SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 37 inches ; tail, six to seven inches. A strong musky odor is given off. The diet is more generalized than that of most kangaroos ; besides roots and fruits, insects and worms are eaten. It is restricted to Queensland.
Insectivores. Order Insectivora In the islands with which we are concerned, the insect-eaters are represented by hedgehogs, gymnures (rat-like insectivores), shrews, moles, and tree shrews. Most of these feed on insects and have sharp-cusped cheek-teeth; the cusps looked at from above are arranged in the shape of the letter W. The incisor teeth are pincer-like in most cases. The muzzles are long and pointed, projecting well beyond the mouth opening. Insectivores usually have five toes on both fore and hind feet, and they walk on the whole sole and palm rather than on the toes as dogs and cats do. The first or inner pair of incisors is usually the largest and the canine is either like the incisors or like the first cheek-teeth.
Although the small shrews are often mistaken for mice, the gymnures for rats, and the tree shrews for squirrels, the incisor teeth of these insectivores are not chisel-like, there is no large gap between the incisors and the cheek-teeth, nor are the cheek-teeth modified for grinding. These differences, together with the characters given above, should be sufficient to distinguish the insectivores from any of the rodents. This order is a very ancient group and contains the most primitive of the placental mammals. It is thought that most of the higher orders have been derived from early insectivores. The flying lemurs or colugos of the Order Dermoptera (p. 44) are probably closely related, and the bats may have developed from the same stock as these gliders. The tree shrews are thought by many to be ancestral to the primates (monkeys, etc.), and some authors place them in that order. They are included here because, although no doubt related to the primates, they have more in common with the insectivores.
38 mammals of the pacific world Hedgehogs and Gymnures. Family Erinaceid^ The Hedgehogs (Erinaceus), although widespread in Europe, Africa, and Asia, are not known from the Malay Subregion but they are found in Formosa. They are stout-bodied mammals, about ten inches long, with short legs and tail; the back and sides are covered with a dense coat of sharp spines. When alarmed a hedgehog puts its head and feet underneath its body and curls up into a ball, the spines all erected and projecting in every direction. Most hunting mammals leave hedgehogs alone. These spiny insectivores feed on worms, slugs, snakes, and small mammals, in addition to insects. The four or five young are nearly naked when born and are protected from enemies and the weather in a nest constructed of leaves and grass.
American porcupines are sometimes wrongly called "hedgehogs," but the only things the two kinds of mammals have in common to confuse people are their spines. Those of the hedgehog are firmly anchored to the skin and are not left in a wound like the barbed quills of the American porcupine. True hedgehogs are not found in America.
The gymnures are hairy, rat-like relatives of the hedgehogs. They lack spines. Instead of these they have long, coarse hair overlying woolly fur, and their tails are naked and rat-like. Their skulls and teeth are very similar to those of the hedgehog, and this is true of their other internal structures. The Common Gymnure or Moom-at {Echinosorex) is twenty to twenty-four inches in total length, the tail being about one-third of this. The head and body are often particolored, blackish and white, or entirely white. This insectivore is found in the Malay region from Burma and Siam to Sumatra and Borneo.
The Lesser Gymnure {Hylomys) is brown and has a short tail, only about an inch long; its over-all length is about six
SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AEEA 39 inches. The lesser gymnure shares the range of its larger relative and also reaches Java.
The Mindanao Gymnure (Podogymnura) is known only from Mount Apo in the Philippines. It is a gray species with long reddish brown guard hairs. Its total length is about eight Fig. 16 — Common Gymnure or Moonrat and one-fourth inches, with the tail a little less than two and one-half inches.
Gymnures feed largely on termites and cockroaches, common in their habitat, but other insects are not refused. They have a rather disagreeable garlic-like odor, and are not appreciated as food by many carnivorous mammals. Shrews. Family Soeicid^ These sharp-nosed little mammals are often confused with rats and mice. They are true insectivores, however, and form a rather uniform group. They are found almost everywhere except in Australia, Oceania, and the greater part of South America. The ears are round and usually hairy, the snout long and flexible, the eyes small, and the two-cusped front up-
40 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD per incisors project forward as well as downward. In the skull the cheek arch is incomplete.
Red-toothed Shrews (Sorex) are the commonest insectivores of the northern parts of the world. Species are found in Japan, the Kuriles, and the Aleutians. The Aleutian shrew, its toes fringed with long hair, is partly aquatic in habit. Only one specimen has been collected and that many years ago on Unalaska Island. These shrews feed largely on insects, grubs, and snails, but often eat vegetable matter also. In Alaska they may get into flour and cereals in storage and do great damage, much as house mice do.
Two Long-tailed Shrews {Soriculusy Chodsigoa) are found in Formosa. They are close relatives of the common redtoothed shrews but have fewer teeth; their teeth also have red tips.
White-toothed Shrews (Crocidura, Suncus) are often called musk shrews, because of their disagreeable odor. In addition to having white teeth, they have scattered long bristles on the short tail, mixed with short inconspicuous hairs. Various species occur in Europe, Asia, and Africa, on the Malaysian islands east as far as Timor, and on the Philippines, Formosa, and Japan. Most of the shrews of the islands are about the size of mice. One of the smallest mammals known belongs to this group.
The Large Musk Shrew or House Shrew {Suncus murinus) is about ten inches long, of which the tail comprises four inches. It is carried about on native boats like the house mouse, and in consequence is widespread. In India people say that if one of these shrews walks over a bottle of wine it ruins the flavor, even through the glass. This may be exaggeration, but the scent is very powerful, offensive, and lasting. The house shrew makes a peculiar chatter as it runs about, a noise somewhat like the jingle of coins. For this reason the natives of some regions call it the "money mouse." Besides living in houses, it often inhabits swamps and the margins of