THE DASYURE TRIBE 1441 



distinguished externally by the tapering and thinly-haired tail, as well as by the 

 dark transverse stripes on the hinder part of the back and loins, and the shortness 

 and closeness of the fur. The ground color of the fur is grayish brown, while the 

 transverse bands are black. In the hind-foot the first toe is wanting, and there are 

 seven cheek-teeth on each side of the jaws. 



Tasmania is now the only habitat of the thylacine; although remains of a spe- 

 cies near akin to the living one are met with in the superficial deposits of the main- 

 land. L,ike most Marsupials, the thylacine is mainly nocturnal. Its favorite haunts 

 are caverns and clefts of rocks among the deep glens of the mountains in the more 

 remote districts of Tasmania; the settlers having nearly exterminated the animal 

 from the more populated regions on account of the damage it inflicts on their flocks. 



SKELETON OF THYLACINE. 



The animal rejoicing in the name of the Tasmanian devil (Sarco- 

 philus ursinus}, is the sole living representative of its genus. Like 

 the thylacine, it has, however, an extinct cousin on the Australian 

 mainland. The Tasmanian devil is an ugly and powerfully-built animal, with an 

 excessively-large head, terminating in a short and broad muzzle; its size being ap- 

 proximately that of the common badger. The ears are large and rounded on the 

 outer side, and the tail is of moderate length, and thickly, although evenly haired. 

 As in the thylacine, the hind-foot has no trace of the first toe; but, instead of being 

 digitigrade, both fore and hind-feet are markedly plantigrade. The fur of the head 

 and body is thick and close, with a large quantity of under-fur, which is nearly 

 equal in length to the straight fur. In color the fur is mainly black or blackish 

 brown, but there is a white collar or patch on the throat, and a variable number of 

 white spots on the neck, shoulders, and rump. The incisor teeth (as shown in the 

 figure on p. 1440) differ from those of the thylacine in that the outermost pair are 

 not markedly larger than the others; while the cheek-teeth are six instead of seven 

 in number on each side, and are closely packed together, in place of being separated 

 from one another by intervals. It is an even more exclusively-nocturnal animal 

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