Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mammals

With more than 500 color photographs, Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mammals is a superb and valuable reference.

Chapter 1

1 TACHYGLOSSUS ACULEATUS

Echidna, spiny anteater

Classification Order Monotremata, Family Tachyglossidae.

Description A heavy, round-bodied animal; covered with short, pointed spines mixed with coarse hairs except on underparts; small tail; long, narrow beak with tiny, toothless mouth; 5 toes on each foot with strong, broad claws and long, curved claw on second toe of hind feet. Males about 35-45 cm (13.5-17.5 in) in length, weight 3-6 kg (6.5-14.5 lb); females somewhat smaller.

Distribution Throughout Australia including Tasmania, and in southern New Guinea.

Habitat Virtually all terrestrial situations.

Behavior The crepuscular and nocturnal echidna digs out ants and termites which adhere to its long sticky tongue. It has a keen sense of smell and good hearing, but weak vision. Its long hind claw is used to clean between its spines. The echidna shelters among rocks or in hollow logs rather than digging tunnels, but quickly burrows straight down into the soil to escape enemies or rolls into a prickly ball for protection. It can fast for long periods. Usually 1 (rarely 2 or 3) egg is laid and incubated for 10 days in a temporary pouch on the female's abdomen, where the naked young remains until its spines begin to appear. The mother then deposits it in a sheltered place, returning daily for about 3 months to suckle it until it is weaned.

2 ORNITHORHYNCHUS ANATINUS

Platypus, duckbill

Classification Order Monotremata, Family Ornithorhynchidae.

Description Long, flat-bodied animal covered with short, velvety brown fur; muzzle is a flexible, leathery, ducklike bill; short, wide tail; webbed feet, male with poisonous spur on hind feet. Males about 61 cm (24 in) total length, weight 2 kg (4.4 lb); females about 46 cm (18 in).

Distribution Eastern Australia including Tasmania.

Habitat Freshwater streams, rivers, and lakes.

Behavior The crepuscular platypus is aquatic and burrows extensively into riverbanks, usually leaving an entrance below water and another above. It subsists on small aquatic animals, vertebrate and invertebrate, taken from the muddy stream bottom. The food is located by touch with the sensitive bill and collected in cheek pouches, wherein sand and grit probably help mastication as the adult platypus has no teeth; food is also crushed between horny plates inside the bill. A platypus stays submerged for about 1 minute with eyes and ears closed. From 1-3, usually 2, small eggs are laid from annual breeding, August-October, and incubated by the mother in a grass-and-leaf nest in the burrow for 12-14 days. Young platypuses leave the burrow and swim at 1 7 weeks of age. The venomous spur on the male's hind feet may be used for defense and helps in the capture of prey such as frogs.

3 MARMOSA MURINA

Mouse opossum, murine opossum

Classification Order Marsupialia, Family Didelphidae.

Description Mouselike creature with rather pointed muzzle; long, hairless, prehensile tail; thin, moderate-sized, naked ears. Dense, lax fur of brown to cinnamon color dorsally, buff on underparts, and pronounced black patch surrounding the large eyes. Head and body length 10-22 cm (about 4-8 in); weight about 250 g (0.6 lb).

f0 Distribution Amazon and Orinoco River basins and adjacent lower parts of the Andes.

Habitat Principally tropical rain forest.

Behavior The murine opossum is one of 41 recognized species of mouse opossums widespread from southern Mexico to Patagonia. This species is solitary, nocturnal, and arboreal in habit. Its opposable hallux and prehensile tail help it to grasp small twigs and vines while climbing. Daytime hours are spent sleeping in an abandoned bird's nest or a tree hollow. Murine opossums eat fruit and insects. Although a true marsupial, the female has no pouch. The offspring, 5 or more in a litter, each cling to a teat or, when older, hold fast to the fur of their mother's back. Murine opossums breed throughout the year and have a gestation period of about 14 days.

4 DIDELPHIS VIRGINIANA

Virginia opossum

Classification Order Marsupialia, Family Didelphidae.

Description About house-cat size with short legs; opposable, clawless hallux; long, flattened, pointed muzzle; small, thin, hairless ears; long, nearly naked, scaly, prehensile tail. Pelage is long, gray or brown, with numerous white guard hairs throughout. Head and body length 38-51 cm (15-20 in), weight 4-6 kg (9-13 lb); females smaller than males.

Distribution United States east of the Rocky Mountains, through Mexico and Central America to Costa Rica; introduced and well established in Pacific coastal North America from San Diego, California, to Crescent Beach, British Columbia.

Habitat Virtually all situations; prefers wooded areas.

Behavior The only marsupial species found in the United States, and still hunted for its meat and fur, the Virginia opossum is solitary and nocturnal in habit. It is both arboreal and terrestrial, and builds its nest of leaves in tree hollows. Its omnivorous diet includes fruit, insects, eggs, small vertebrates. Individuals in the northern reaches of its range often lose portions of tail and ears to frostbite. When pursued, the opossum can feign death; that is, "play 'possum." Females have a well-developed pouch and produce an average of 7 young per litter, once or twice a year. Gestation is 12-13 days; young are weaned at 100-101 days of age and carried on their mother's back.

5 CHIRONECTES MINIMUS

Yapok, water opossum

Classification Order Marsupialia, Family Didelphidae.

Description A long-legged opossum with relatively broad muzzle; long, almost hairless, scaly tail except at its base; a modified wrist bone simulating a sixth digit on the forefeet, webbed hind feet. Short, dense fur with round black patches on back and head, contrasting with gray; white beneath. Head and body about 28 cm (11 in) long; weight 610-790 g (1.3-1.7...