634 LAND MAMMALS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 



The other forms to be mentioned belong to the closely 

 allied family of the Dasyuridae. The "Tasmanian Devil" 

 {Sarcophilus ursinus) is now, like the Thylacine, confined to 

 Tasmania, but remains of it have been found in the Australian 

 Pleistocene; it has one less premolar in each jaw, giving the 

 formula : i^, c\, p|, m |, X 2 = 42 ; there is no milk-tooth. 

 The premolars are closely crowded and the molars resemble 

 those of the Thylacine in construction, but are broader and 

 heavier. The skull is disproportionately large, with shorter 

 and wider muzzle and jaws than in the Thylacine ; the tail 

 is of only moderate length and somewhat shaggy ; the hallux 

 is wanting. In size and build, the Tasmanian Devil resembles 

 a badger and has long and heavy fossorial claws on the fore 

 feet ; the hair is rough and shaggy, black in colour with white 

 patches. The animal has received its name from its fierce and 

 savage disposition and is almost as destructive to sheep as 

 the Thylacine. 



The five species of Dasyurus are distributed through Tas- 

 mania, Australia and New Guinea and are called ' ' Native Cats " ; 

 they are much smaller animals than the two preceding genera, 

 not exceeding a domestic cat in size. As the Thylacine imitates 

 a wolf and the Tasmanian Devil a badger, the dasyures resemble 

 the civets. In them the dental formula is the same as in 

 Sarcophilus, but the teeth have higher and sharper cusps. The 

 head has a narrow, tapering muzzle and narrow ears ; the body 

 is long and the tail of moderate length. The limbs are short 

 and slender and a small hallux is present in some of the species. 

 The fur is grey or brown, with numerous white spots, and the 

 tail is covered with long hair, but not bushy. The dasyures 

 are largely arboreal and prey upon small mammals, birds 

 and eggs. 



Until the arrival of the true Carnivora from the north, 

 their role was taken in South America by predaceous marsupials, 

 which persisted as late as the presumably Pliocene beds of 

 Monte Hermoso. Little is known of them in that stage, 



