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.
They are characterized by the absence of that differentiation of the body into root, stem and leaf which is so marked a feature in the higher plants, and by the simplicity of their internal structure.
