phalange

[PHALANX.] pha-lăn-gě-al, phălăn ge-an, a. [Eng. phalange; -al, -an.] Phalangal (q. v.). phăl-ăn-ger, s. [Fr., from phalange, one of the small bones of the fingers or toes.) (See extract, after definition.) Zool.: The popular English name for any individ. ual of the sub-family Phalangistine (q. v.). Phal. angers are small woolly-coated marsupials, with opposable great toes, which are destitute of a nail. They are, for the most part, vegetable feeders, though some are insectivorous, and in confinement any of them will readily devour small birds or other animals. They may be grouped in two cla es, those with, and those without, a patagium or fly. ing-membrane. The most important will be found in this dictionary under their popular names. "Buffon gave to a pair of cuscuses examined by him the name that heads this article, ' Phalanger ,' on account of the peculiar structure of the second and third toes of the hind feet, which are united in a common skin up to the nails." Encyc. Brit . (ed. 9th), xviii. 727. pha-lăn'-ģēş, s. pl. [PHALANX.]