The remaining members of the family may be included in the sub family Phalangerinae, characterized by the normal nature of the dentition (which shows redimentary lower canines) and tongue.
In this wider sense the family may be characterized as follows.
Seaboard.The shore of the Mediterranean encircling the Gulf of the Lion (Golfe du Lion) from Cape Cerbera to Martigues is lowlying and unbroken, and characterized chiefly by lagoons separated from the sea by sand-dunes.
On the other hand, the considerably smaller Nototherium, characterized by its sharp and broad skull and smaller incisors, seems to have been much more wombat-like, and may perhaps have possessed similar burrowing habits.
There is no other instance in Europe of a basin of similar extent equally clearly characterized—the perfectly level character of the plain being as striking as the boldness with which the lower slopes of the mountain ranges begin to rise on each side of it.
