Tooth-marhs of Tliylacoleo. Ill 



Australian specimens had been fractured lengthwise by the in- 

 sertion of a pointed tooth, presumably the incisor of Thylacoleo, 

 and these Queensland bones, cracked in a similar direction, 

 strengthen the idea that much of the bone splitting has been 

 accomplished by this means. It also gives some indication of 

 the immense biting capabilities of the animal, which enabled it 

 to force its incisors, modified to act as seizing and tearing 

 teeth, into fairly solid bone far enough to cause its fracture. 



It is rather puzzling to find that, while the bones from the 

 three localities outside Victoria are marked generally with a 

 similar type of incision, mostly in the form of a shallow gash, 

 and distinct cuts of the Pejark type are entirely absent, the 

 specimens from the latter place show very few shallow gashes, 

 and cuts through the bone are comparatively plentiful. These 

 differences in the character of the occurrences seem to point 

 to the work having been done by teeth varying in the sharpness 

 of their cutting edge, for it can be well understood that 

 the shearing teeth of Tliylacoleo, much worn down by usage, 

 would be quite incapable of doing more than make a surface 

 cut, or crushing the bone until it yielded to the pressure of 

 repeated blows of the teeth, without leaving any well-defined 

 slicing like that seen on the Pejark bones. On the other hand, 

 it is possible, although improbable, that the Pejark specimens 

 were softer, and did not fracture as the more biittle ones would 

 do, but withstood the cutting action until they were completely 

 cut througrh. 



2. — The Buchan Bone. 



Another bone, found by Mr. J. A. Kershaw, of the National 

 Museum, Melbourne, bears cuts, the origin of some of which is a 

 matter of doubt. The specimen was found in one of the several 

 caves in the devonian limestone of Buchan, in Eastern Gippsland, 

 which contained the remains of extinct marsupials, including a 

 skull of Thylacoleo. 



That the find was a genuine one is certain, for Mr. Ker- 

 shaw, who visited Buchan purposely to collect material from 

 the caves, was one of the first three to enter this particular 

 oave in which the bone was found, and the ground had not been 



