TASMANIAN DEVIL — NATIVE CATS 



219 



thylacyne, although of an altogether more massive character, and with a different 

 arrangement of their cusps ; in both species they are strikingly different to those 

 of any placental carnivore. The distribution of the Tasmanian devil is precisely 

 similar to that of its larger cousin, both at the present day, and in a past epoch. 

 It is very noteworthy that remains of the Tasmanian devil have been found on 

 the sandhills near Warrnambool, Victoria, in association with bones and teeth of 

 man and other mammals; the occurrence of the species on the Australian 

 mainland at a very recent epoch being thereby conclusively proved. Although 

 in places where they are numerous these animals are accountable for the 

 destruction of great numbers of sheep, as well as other large mammals, they do 

 not disdain a diet of insects. Shunning the light, and sleeping through the day in 



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TASMANIAN DEVIL. 



Native Cats. 



caverns or clefts among rocks, or in holes excavated under the roots of trees by 

 their own powerful claws, these animals seem dazed and blinded if dragged into 

 the full glare of the sun. In disposition they are fierce and morose, greeting those 

 who disturb them in their mountain haunts with loud snarls and growling. 



On the smaller members of the Dasyuridai, some of which are 

 found both in Australia and Tasmania, the settlers have bestowed 

 the exceedingly inappropriate name of native cats, as there is nothing cat-like 

 about them, with the exception that they are carnivorous. On the contrary, they 

 have slender, sharp muzzles, pointed ears, and long, thickly haired tails. The 

 largest of the group is the spot-tailed dasyure (Dasyurus maculatus), which 

 ranges from the central districts of Queensland to Tasmania ; but a better known 

 species is D. viverrinus, the range of which does not extend farther north than 

 the eastern watershed of New South Wales. 



