214 



NATURAL BISTORT. 



TEETH OF THE DASYURE. 



adapted for stopping and seizing prey, and their carnivorous character is surpassed by that of the 

 premolars and true molars. These last have a triangular grinding surface : the first has four sharp 

 cusps, the second and third have five, and the last, which is the smallest in the upper jaw, has only 

 three. In the lower jaw the last molar is of the same size as the last but one, and has four cusps ; 

 and the other molars have much resemblance to those in the upper jaw. 



The hind feet have the toes separate and not united by a fold of skin, and there is a rudimentary 

 great toe in this species. The condyle of the humerus is not perforated as in the Kangaroos, for 



instance for the passage of the blood vessels, but is 

 whole, and the outside of the bone is marked by a 

 groove, along which they pass. 



Although this Dasyure has the lower jaw inflected, 

 and is a true Marsupial, the resemblance in shape, and 

 in dental and other characters, as well as in its habits, 

 to the Carnivora is striking. Its fierce character and 

 the nocturnal habits add to the similarity ; but there 

 are some very peculiar anatomical distinctions. The 

 wrist bones, called scaphoid and lunar, those which are 

 nearest the radius along the first row of carpal bones, 



are separate in the Dasyure, but in the Carnivora they are united to form one bone. And in the 

 foot there is a peculiarity : for whilst in the Carnivora there is a groove between the heel bone and 

 the astragalus, this is absent in the Marsupial Carnivore, and the articular surface of the bones is 

 continuous. 



The Dasyures have a small crest of bone on the top of the skull, which is also seen on a grander 

 scale in the Carnivora. They have, moreover, the zygoma well developed and strong ; it bulges 

 outwards and curves upwards, but not to the amount seen in the true Carnivora. The occipital bone 

 is developed as in the non-Marsupial mammals, but its parts, instead of joining together and forming 

 one with age, often remain separate ; but this does not appear to occur in all the species of the genus, 

 for Owen, in his wonderful article on the Marsupials in the "Cyclopaedia of 

 Anatomy and Physiology," notices that in the little Dasyurus Maugei the 

 occipital bone presents the usual state of bony confluence. He notices that the 

 Dasyure, in common with some other Marsupials, has the temporal bone per- 

 manently divided into its several parts, there being separate sqxiamous, petrous, 

 and tympanic bones ; but the petrous and mastoid parts are usually united. 

 This is a reptilian peculiarity, but the tympanic bone of the Dasyure is not 

 without its resemblances to those of birds. The surface on which the lower 

 jaw moves or is hinged, is not composed entirely by the temporal bone, but the 

 malar bone is slightly included, and even the sphenoid comes into the joint. 



Another marked character of the Dasyures is, that their hard palates are 

 not whole, but have spaces and perforations, and this denotes a low organisa- 

 tion. This absence of a perfect hard palate is seen in other Marsupials, and 

 especially in the Bandicoots (Perameles). 



The angular process of the lower jaw, where inflected or bent in, is 

 triangular and directed upwards, with a blunt point ; and the condyle of the 

 jaw is low, being on a level with the molar teeth. 



It is remarkable that the Dasyures should have the bones of the leg, the tibia and fibula, so 

 connected together as to allow of a certain degree of rotation on each other, after the fashion of the 

 fore-arm bones. The muscles of the leg are modified for the purpose. This interesting anatomical 

 point recalls one of the great distinctions between the fixed leg bones of man and those of the 

 hand-footed Ape. It is not found, however, in the non-Marsupial mammals, whose habits of life are 

 simulated by the Dasyure ; but it is found in the Wombat, a burrower, and in the Koala, Phalangers, 

 and Opossums, which are climbers. In examining the stomachs of the Marsupials, Owen noticed 

 that differences in food and habit are not met by alteration in the shape of the organ, as they are in 

 the higher Mammalia. Thus, the common Dasyure, the insectivorous Bandicoot, and the leaf-eating 



BRAIN OF THE DASYURE. 



