118 THE DASYURES. 



rate the Dasyures from the Opossums, and they 

 were first pointed out by him in the "Annates 

 du Museurn"^ for 1804. Some differences in the 

 number of the teeth, and some modifications in 

 their form, as well as in the external characters 

 of these animals, were subsequently seized upon by 

 M. Temminck,t to divide the group into three 

 genera. We shall begin with that which contains the 

 largest carnivorous marsupial quadruped — the Native 

 Hyaena or Dog-headed Opossum, which constitutes 

 Temminck's genus Thylaciniis. Its teeth are : — 



Incisors, |; canines, \\\ ; false molars, |;f ; true 

 molars, |:|=:46. The incisors, both of upper and 

 lower jaws, are arranged so as to form a segment of 

 a circle; the outermost incisors are the largest, and the 

 innermost the smallest : they are all slightly com- 

 pressed, and in fact closely resemble those of the 

 Dog. The canines are large, and but slightly com- 

 pressed. The false molars have each two roots, and 

 are compressed and pointed, — viewed laterally, they 

 present nearly a triangular figure, but the point is 

 slightly recurved, and there is a small posterior cusp 

 more or less distinct. The true molars of the upper 

 jaw greatly resemble the " Carnassiere" in the 

 true Carnivora ; their horizontal section presents an 

 isosceles triangle, the base of which is foremost, and 

 forms almost a right angle with the outer surface of 

 the jaw ; they present a cutting edge, the central 



* Tom. iii., p. 333. 



-|- See his Troisieme Monographie, sur les Mammiferes du 

 Genre Dasyure, &c» 



