1 76 ANIMAL LIFE PAST AND PRESENT. 



related to some of the living Australian Marsupials. 

 In the Eocene, or lowest portion of the Tertiary period, 

 Australian types of Marsupials seem to have dis- 

 appeared from Europe; but we there meet with re- 

 mains of fossil species of the American group of 

 Opossums. These data indicate that Marsupials were 

 widely spread over the globe at an early period of the 

 world's history, and while the greater number of types 

 disappeared from both the Old and New World to find 

 a refuge in Australia, the Opossums lingered on for 

 some time in Europe, but finally retreated to America, 

 in the southern portion of which continent they are 

 represented by a considerable number of species. At 

 the time that Australia was cut off from land com- 

 munication with the rest of the world it is probable 

 that the higher types of Mammals such as Carnivores 

 (Dogs, Cats, Weasels, &c.), Eodents (Eats, Hares, &c.), 

 and Ungulates (Horses, Cattle, Elephants, &c.) had not 

 yet come into existence, and these types were accord- 

 ingly never able to obtain an entrance into that island- 

 continent. Thus protected from the competition of 

 the higher Mammals, the Marsupials have there de- 

 veloped a large number of types differing very widely 

 from one another in external appearance, although in 

 all cases retaining the features peculiar to the order. 



The earliest evidence of a Marsupial of the Australian 

 type brought to the notice of Europeans was far back 

 in the last century, when one of the animals known as 

 Phalangers (which the Australian colonists will persist 

 in calling Opossums) was captured in the island of 



