98 STUDIES IN TASMANIAN MAMMALS, LIVING AND EXTINCT, 



so as the hand is complete in phalangeals, and claw bones, 

 and therefore available for comparison. A glance at the 

 outlines of the hand and foot quickly reveal the dispro- 

 portion exhibited by the pes, in point of size. This, how- 

 ever, is compensated for in the wide expanse of the sacral 

 regions of the skeleton, sheer weight and pelvic width 

 making up for other reductions. 



In the hands, one cannot but be struck by the great 

 palmar expanse, as also the power of the claws. When 

 fully spread such hands would have firmly gripped the 

 soil, and thus presented a most solid and unyielding front 

 to a charging foe. Such manal power must have been a 

 useful factor also during the cranial twist incidental to> 

 the horning and tossing of a foe. In this connection it is 

 manifestly obvious that the whole build of the scapular 

 arch is in view of power, and the scapulas, clavicles, and 

 arm bones, are all called upon to contribute their quot» 

 to the total result. 



OSTEOLOGY OF THE FOOT. 

 Plate XXII. 



As the astragalus and calcaneum from the left pes of 

 both Nototherium mitchelli and N. tasmanicum are present, 

 a direct comparison can be instituted, and, with the astra- 

 gali super-imposed upon their respective calcanei, the fol- 

 lowing notes were obtained. In spite of the fact that the fe- 

 mur of N. mitchelli exceeds that of N. tasmanicum in total 

 length by 65 mm., and in width by 47 mm., the bones of 

 the feet present hardly any differences in point of total 

 size, although morphologically they manifest such well- 

 marked . differences as one would look for upon their 

 taxonomic segregations. Unfortunately, the post-articular 

 regions of both calcanei are mutilated, and accordingly no 

 measurement of total length can be supplied, that of 

 .V. tasmanicum is the longer, being 152 mm., while that 

 from the other species is only 127 mm. long. In the 

 former, the whole post-articular muscular attachment area 

 is present, and extends backwards for 50 mm., while in 

 the latter only 25 mm. of this region is present. 



The lateral tibial articular tract in N. mitchelli is 

 horizontal, but in the other species it slopes forward and 

 downward, is gently concave in the former, and convex in 

 the latter, thus giving a more vertical tibial articulation to 

 N. mitchelli, and markedly more angular one to N. 

 tasmanicum. In N. mitchelli, the calcaneum presents a 

 fibular articular facet 20 mm. long, and 8 mm. deep, the 

 calcaneum projecting some 8 mm. beyond the astragalar 



