444 A THYLACINE OP THE EARLIER l^OTOTHERIAN PERIOD, 



species to belong to T. spelce.us ; that suspicion is now an assur- 

 ance. Sufficient proof of the fact has within the last few days 

 heen furnished by the discovery of the major part of the left side of 

 a skull containing the whole of the teeth except the second upj)er 

 premolar, and accomi)anied by the first four cervical vertebrae, 

 the condition of the teeth showing that they were derived from 

 an aged individual. For these interesting fossils, which were 

 brought to light at EUangowan, near Cambooya, on the Darling 

 Downs, the Collection is indebted to the quick perception of their 

 novelty and value shown by their exhumer, Mr. A. B. Briggs, of 

 that ilk. 



Cranium : Comparing the cranium with that of a male of the 

 "Tasmanian Tiger" so called, the more striking of the differences 

 existing between them may be set down as follows : — The total 

 length of the skull is 239 mm., against 231mm. in T. cynocephalus, 

 that is, it is ~ greater ; the total length of the dental series is 

 130 mm., against 120 mm., or -^ greater ; but the total length of 

 the premolars and molars together is only 92 mm., against 88 mm., 

 or -^ greater, indicating a distinctly longer muzzle ; the second 

 and third incisors are separated by interspaces from the first and 

 fourth, which last has no rudimentary lateral lobes marked off by 

 shallow vertical impressions on its anterior surface ; the canine 

 is more compressed, especially on the posterior side of the basal 

 half of the crown, where it presents an edge which, in consequence 

 of a sudden attenuation of the distal half of the tooth, slupes 

 downwards and forwards much more rapidly than does the 

 rounded surface of the recent tooth; the space between the first 

 and third premolars is relatively much longer, being 25 mm., 

 against 18'5ram., or more than \ greater; the posterior cusp of 

 p^ is less distinct and is in contact with in^ ; 7>^^ is longer in 

 proportion to m'^m-^, the ratios being, in the fossil, 12 : 28, in 

 the recent teeth, 11 : 29; 7n-^ is broader in proportion to its 

 length and shorter in proportion to the size of the cranium, the 

 ratios of breadth to length being, in the fossil, 12 -5 : 15, in the 

 recent tooth, 12 : 15, and the posterior side of its inner cusp is 

 joined to the blade by a compressed ridge ; ?;i* is the most 



