MARSUPIALIA 305 



as to show the closer affinity of the Phascolothere with the 

 latter oolitic Insectivora ; and, accordingly, whatever additional 

 evidence of rnarsupiality is afforded by the Phascolothermm, 

 may be regarded as strengthening the claims of both Amphi- 

 lestes and Ampliitlwrium to be admitted into the marsupial 

 group. The general form and proportions of the coronoid 

 process of the jaw of Phascolothcrium resemble those in the 

 zoophagous M arsupials ; and especially with that of the 

 Thylacynus in regard to the depth and form of the entering 

 notch between this process and the condyle. 



The base of the inwardly-bent angle of the lower jaw pro- 

 gressively increases in Didelphys, Dasyurus, and Thylacinus; 

 and judging from the fractured surface of the corresponding- 

 part of the fossil, it most nearly resembles the jaw of Thyla- 

 cinus. The condyle of the jaw is nearer the plane of the 

 inferior margin of the ramus in the Thylacine than in the 

 Dasyures or opossums : and consequently, when the inflected 

 angle is broken off, the curve of the line continued from the 

 condyle along the lower margin of the jaw is least in the 

 Thylacine. In this particular, again, the Phascolothere resem- 

 bles that Australian Carnivore. In the position of the dental 

 foramen, the Phascolothere, like the Amphithere, differs from 

 the zoophagous Marsupials and placental Carnivora and Insect- 

 ivora, and resembles the Hypsiprymnus, a marsupial Herbivore, 

 that orifice being near the vertical line dropped from the last 

 molar tooth. In the direction of the line of the symphysis, 

 the Phascolothere resembles the Opossums more than the 

 Dasyures or Thylacines. It is probable that the teeth at the 

 fore part of the jaw showed the same correspondence. In the 

 number of the molar series, the Phascolothere differs from 

 Amphitherium, Amphikstes, and Myrmccdbius, and resembles 

 the Thylacine and Opossum, but without having the premolars 

 (p, i, 2, 3) distinguished, as in them, from the true molars 

 (m, 1, 2, 3, 4), by smaller and more simple crowns. As, however, 



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