July, "I Mahony, Bones, c^c, near Warrnambool. 45 



1912 J > ) • -rj 



survey of the district, liy C. D. H. Aplin, in 1857 (Quarter 

 Sheet 7 N.W.) On this map is printed the following note 

 by the late Sir Frederick M'Coy : — 



" Note. — The Bones in this Cave are all strongly adherent 

 to the tongue, and have quite lost their animal matter. The 

 recognizable fragments are as follow : — 



" Placental Mammalia. 



" Canis Dingo, or Wild Dog, identical with living one. 

 " New Genus of Carnivorous animal. 



" Implacental or Marsupial Mammalia. 



" Diabolm [Sarcophilus) Ursinus, Tasmanian Devil ; no 

 species of this Genus at present known living on the continent 

 of Australia. 



" Dasyimis viverrinus, identical with living species. 



" Dasyurus afflniis (M'Coy). New Species nearly as large as 

 D. maculaUis [the Tiger Cat], but differing in proportions.* 



" Phalangista vulpina [Tyichosiirus vulfecula], identical with 

 living forms. 



" Phalangista. — New Species. 



" Perameles obescula [= Isoodon obesculus, the Short-nosed 

 Bandicoot], apparently identical with living species. 



^^ Hy psiprimnits [= Potorus] trisulcatus (M'Coy). — A New 

 Species, a little smaller than the living H. minor {— Potorus 

 tridactyins, the Rat Kangaroo], and having only 3 sulci on large 

 premolar in the larger jaw. 



" Macropns, a species nearly allied to the living M. ualahatus 

 [the Black-tailed Wallaby], but distinct." 



Of these it will be noticed that Sarcophilus ursimis, Dasyiiriis 

 viverrinus, Trichosurus viilpecula, and Macropns, sp., also occur 

 at Warrnambool. 



The evidence as to the very recent age of the Gisborne bones 

 is not so clear. The remains found in the cave are certainly 

 younger than the Newer Basalt, which is generally considered to 

 have been erujited during the Pliocene period, but IM'Coy's note 

 on their condition may i)oint to considerable antiquity in years, 

 though there is no evidence of how long it took the bones to 

 lose their " animal matter." 



In conclusion, it may be of interest to note that the sand of 

 the dunes in this locality is formed largely of shell fragments. 

 A sample was analyzed by Mr. P. G. W. Bayly at the Geological 

 Survey Laboratory, giving — 



* The original specimen, which is exhibited at the National Museum, 

 bears the label: — " Daxyurus maculatus, Kerr, sp. Cave near Gisborne. 

 [The type (not figured) of M'Coy's IJ. af/iutis, M. S.]" 



