THE MARSUPIALS, OR POUCHED ANIMALS. 103 



Pl<i<li<tnl(uc to that of Thylacoleo as exceedingly 

 improbable ; besides this, the discovery of the 

 Neoplagiaulax leads us to an entirely different 

 track from Placjlaulax. 



The Marsupial Lion of the Australian Pleisto- 

 cene takes us back to the time when the group had 



FIG. 4. Skull of Diprodon Australia. One-tenth natural size. 

 After Owen. 



reached its fullest development (followed by a some- 

 what rapid decline), and which presupposes a similar 

 and contemporaneous abundance of plant-eaters 

 necessary for the sustenance of the huge flesh- 

 eaters. And there exists at least one species of 

 those theoretically required the colossal Dipro- 



