POUCHED MAMMALS. 



207 



Fig. 109 T ASM ANI AN- WOLF 

 (Thylacinus cynocefhalus). 



hairy tail is never prehensile ; and the pouch, "when developed, opens 

 forwards and downwards. Internally, the stomach is simple, and the 

 intestine devoid of a blind appendage. There are four pairs of incisor teeth 

 in the upper jaw, and three in the lower ; the entire dentition being of an 

 essentially carnivorous type, the 

 upper molars having more or less 

 distinctly triangular crowns bear- 

 ing a number of sharp cusps. 

 Indeed, although a few of the 

 smaller kinds are more or less com- 

 pletely insectivorous, the present 

 family includes all the truly flesh- 

 eating Australian Marsupials, as 

 it does the largest members of the 

 entire sub-order. Geographically, 

 the range of the group embraces 

 Australia, Tasmania, and New 

 Guinea, together with many of 

 the adjacent islands, exclusive of 

 the Austro-Malayan group. 



Its large size, generally wolf-like form, and striped body are sufficient 

 to distinguish at a glance the thylacine or Tasmanian-wolf (Thylacinus 

 cynocephalus) from all its kindred. This animal, which measures about 

 44 in. to the root of the tail, has a large wolf-like head, with moderate-sized 

 ears, a long and slender muzzle, and the elongated jaws armed with very 

 powerful teeth. The long tail is covered with close, short hair. All the 

 feet are markedly digitigrade, the five toes of the front pair being armed 

 with short, thick, conical claws, while the hind-feet have but four 

 toes each. The back is marked with transverse black bands on a 

 tawny ground. Only four teats are present in the pouch of the 

 female, and the marsupial bones are rudimental. The full marsupial 

 number of three pairs of pre-molar teeth are present. Although this 

 ferocious animal appears to be now restricted to Tasmania, the genus was 



represented at a comparatively recent 

 epoch on the Australian mainland. 

 It is a nocturnal creature, inhabiting 

 caves and hollows among rocky fast- 

 nesses ; and, if seen abroad by day- 

 light, is dull and sluggish. It never 

 hunts in pack, and its sole cry appears 

 to be a dull guttural growl. At the 

 present day sheep are the chief prey 

 of the thylacine, as these are both 

 more numerous and easier to capture 

 than the diprotodont marsupials upon 

 which it formerly lived. Four is the 

 number of young produced in a litter. 

 Although but little more than half its 

 size, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus 

 ursinus) is an even more sanguinary and destructive creature, killing sheep 

 and fowls, apparently for the mere pleasure of slaughter, long after its 

 appetite is satiated. In form this animal is very stout and powerful, having 



Fig. 110. TASMANIAN-DKVIL 

 (Sarcophilus ursinus). 



