Temmi nek's Monns^raphies de Mammalogie. 575. 



short, and the greater part of the tail naked and rugose. To the 

 first section are assigned the P. vulpina, and P. Cookii of Cuvier, 

 and the P. nana of Geoifroy, which is described from the specimen 

 existing in the Museum of Paris ; the second comprising the va- 

 rious species included in the Didelphis orientalis of Linnaeus. 

 These are the P. ursina and P. chrysorrhos, now first described, 

 the P. maculata of Geoffroy, and the P. cavifrons, which includes 

 the Phalanger blanc and the P. roux of the same author. 



The genus Didelphis, the animals of which are well known as 

 possessing a greater number of teeth than has yet been observed in 

 any other group of the Mammalia, is also distinguished into two 

 sections, the females of the first possessing a marsupium, whicK 

 is wanting in those of the second, where it is replaced by a mere 

 duplicature of the ventral skin. The first of these contains D. 

 virginiana, D. Azara, D. cancrivora, D. Quica, D. myosurus, ap- 

 parently new, D. Opossum, and D. Philander of Schreber; and 

 the second, D. cinerea, a new species discovered in Brazil by the 

 Prince de Neuwied, D. dorsigera, D. murina, D. tricolor, and 

 D. brachyura. The synonymy of these species, which has hitherto 

 been extremely confused, has been unravelled by M. Temminck 

 with his usual sagacity and assiduity. 



The species of Dasyurus, Geoff., which form the subject of the 

 succeeding Monograph, have been well separated by M. Tem- 

 minck into three genera, two of these possessing seven molar 

 teeth in each jaw, while the true Dasyuri have only six. The 

 most striking distinction between the two genera thus removed is, 

 that the middle incisors in each jaw are very large, compared with 

 the lateral ones, in Phascogale, while in Thylacinus they are of 

 equal size with the others. To Phascogale, M. Temminck conse- 

 quently refers the D. penicillatus and D. minimus of Geoffroy; 

 and to Thylacinus, the Didelphis cynocephalus of Harris Lin. Tr., 

 which since the examination of the Cranium in the possession of 

 Mr. Brookes, and the specimen in the Museum of the Linnean 

 Society, we had strongly suspected as constituting a distinct 

 genus. The D. ursinus, D. macrourus, D. Maugei, and D. viver- 

 rinus, are the species arranged as Dasyuri ; D, taffa, Geoff, not 



2 q2 



