DASYURID^E 



137 



sembling those of Dasyurus, but of more simple form, the cusps 

 being not so distinct nor sharply pointed. Milk-molar very small, 

 and shed before the animal leaves the mother's pouch. Humerus 

 with an entepicondylar foramen. General form very Dog -like. 

 Head elongated. Muzzle pointed. Ears moderate, erect, triangular. 

 Fur short and closely applied to the skin. Tail of moderate length, 

 thick at the base and tapering towards the apex, clothed with short 

 hair. Hallux (including the metacarpal bone) wanting. Vertebrae : 

 07, D13, L6, S 2, C 23. Marsupial bones represented only by 

 small unossified fibro-cartilages. 



The only known existing species of this genus, T. cynocephalus 

 (Fig. 39), though smaller than a common Wolf, .is the largest preda- 

 ceous Marsupial at present living. It is now entirely confined to the 

 island of Tasmania, although fragments of bones and teeth found in 

 caves afford evidence that a closely allied species once inhabited the 

 Australian mainland. The general colour of the Thylacine is 



Fio. 40. Right lateral aspect of the skull of the Thylacine. 



grayish brown, but it has a series of transverse black bands on the 

 hinder part of the back and loins, whence the name of " Tiger " 

 frequently applied to it by the colonists. It is also called " Wolf," 

 and sometimes, though less appropriately, " Hyaena." Owing to 

 the havoc it commits among the sheepfolds, it has been nearly 

 exterminated in all the more settled parts of Tasmania, but still 

 finds shelter in the almost impenetrable rocky glens of the more 

 mountainous regions of the island. The female produces four 

 young at a time. The pouch opens backwardly, and there are four 

 mammae. The figure of the skull exhibits the peculiar Dog-like 

 form so characteristic of the genus. 



Sarcophilus. 1 Dentition : i , c ^, p f , m . Upper incisors nearly 

 equal, and placed vertically, the first not differentiated from the 

 rest. Premolars rounded and closely crowded between the canine 

 and molars, with broad crowns ; molars broad and heavy, the last 

 one without a distinct hind talon. Form thick and powerful ; 



1 F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. des Mammiftres, iv. (1837). 



