318 On some Ungual Phalangef. 



prove correct, it follows tliat the identity of the hooded 

 bones (" Mylodon australis '') has yet to be discovered. 



The sujigestiou of an extinct Koala may possibly be not 

 so speculative as would at first sight appear when it is 

 remeuibcred that Mr. C. W. de Vis described* a portion of 

 a fibula that he believed represented " a proji^enitor of the 

 Koala." The further discovery of a premaxillary with its 

 palatal process was held to strengthen this view. Said 

 Mr. de Vis : — " The Koala, or Native Bear, is now one of 

 tlie few types of Australian life which has not been recognized 

 as a part of its ancient economy : yet it is one of which no 

 one could be sur[)rised to find an ancestral form among the 

 past modifications of marsupial structure." He proposed 

 to distinguish the former owner of this Hbula by the name 

 of Kuu/cmus inyens. Portion of a shoulder-blade was referred 

 to auotiier extinct Phalanger {Archizonwus securus). 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 



Tiff. 1. The orijjfiual of Krefft's "ungual or terminal phalanx of a 

 creature allied to Mylodon,' with " its peculiar protecting 

 bone partly broken." The original of Krefft's fig^. 7 and 8, 

 and Owen's 11 and 12. Wellington Caves. X 2 diam. 



Fiff. 2. Ungual phalange " equalling or surpassing those of a Lion " 

 (Owen). This is the original of Krefft's tig. 12, and Lydekker'a 

 Catalogue (M. 1526 (30)). Wellington Caves. X 2 diam. 



Fig. 3. Dort-al view of the bone, tig. 2. X 2 diam. 



Fiff. 4. Plantar „ » . ,i . » . 



Fig. 6. Another phalange similar to Fig. 2, but with the dorsal surface 

 straight, or even a little concave. This is probably the 

 original of Owen's figs. 13, 14. W^ellington Caves. X 2 diam. 



Fig. 6. Dorsal view of fig. 5. X 2 diam. 



Fig. 7. Plantar „ „ „ 



Fiff. 8. Highly compressed ungual phalange with the proximal portion 

 broken away. Original of Krefft's fig. 2. Wellington Caves. 

 X 2 diam. 



Fiff. 9. Dorsal view of fig. 8. 



Fiff. 10. Probably the almost perfect condition of an ungual phalange 

 similar to that seen in tig. 8. Cope's Creek, x 2 diam. 



Fig. 11. Plantar view of fig. 10. x 2 diam. 



Fig. 12. Dorsal „ „ „ 



Fiff. 13. Phascolarctos einereus, Goldfuas. Ungual phalanx of the right 

 fore foot. 



Fig. 14. Sarcophilus ursinm, Harris. Fourth ungual phalanx of right 

 fore foot. 



* De Vis, * On the Phalangistidae of the Post-Tertiary Period in 

 Queensland/ Proc. R. Soc. Queensland, vi. pts. ii. & iii. p. 106. 



