24 THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS 



order of Marsupials. Although not absolutely restricted 

 to Australia, since one of its component families is purely 

 American, the Marsupials, from their prevalence, con- 

 stitute a still more noticeable feature of the Australian 

 fauna than the Monotremes. Of the seven families 

 into which this order is usually divided by naturalists, 

 six are entirely confined to the Australian Region. 

 Moreover, the Marsupials are so abundant in Australia 

 proper, as to quite overshadow the few representa- 

 tives of the higher orders of mammals found within its 

 limits. 



The carnivorous Dasyures (Dasyuridze) forming the 

 first of these families take the place in Australia of the 

 true carnivora of other parts of the world. They are semi- 

 nocturnal in habits, and prowl about at dusk in search of 

 the smaller mammals and birds which constitute their 

 food. In Tasmania two peculiar forms of Dasyures occur, 

 which are not met with in the Australian continent. 

 These are the Thylacine, a dog-like animal with a long 

 tapering tail, noticeable as being the largest of living car- 

 nivorous Marsupials (Fig. 2, p. 25), and in general external 

 appearance so much resembling our familiar domestic 

 friend that the uninitiated can hardly be persuaded 

 that its proper place is in a different order of mammals ; 

 and the Sarcophilus ursinus. or Tasmanian Devil, as 

 it is popularly called — a somewhat aberrant dasyure of 

 a prevailing black colour, about the size and somewhat 

 of the shape of an English badger, and remarkable for its 

 savage and voracious disposition. Both these animals, now 

 confined to the island of Tasmania, must have formerly 

 extended into Australia, as their remains have been found 

 fossil in the caves of the Wellington Valley of New South 



