DASVURIDE 137 
sembling those of Dasywrus, but of more simple form, the cusps 
being not so distinct nor sharply pointed. Milk-molar very small, 
and shed before the animal leaves the mother’s pouch. Humerus 
with an entepicondylar foramen. General form very Dog-like. 
Head elongated. Muzzle pointed. Ears moderate, erect, triangular. 
Fur short and closely applied to the skin. Tail of moderate length, 
thick at the base and tapering towards the apex, clothed with short 
hair. Hallux (including the metacarpal bone) wanting. Vertebre : 
C7, D138, L6, 82, C23. Marsupial bones represented only by 
small unossified fibro-cartilages. 
The only known existing species of this genus, 7. cynocephalus 
(Fig. 39), though smaller than a common Wolf, is the largest preda- 
ceous Marsupial at present living. It is now entirely confined to the 
island of Tasmania, although fragments of bones and teeth found in 
caves afford evidence that a closely allied species once inhabited the 
Australian mainland. The general colour of the Thylacine is 
Fic. 40.—Right lateral aspect of the skull of the Thylacine. 
grayish brown, but it has a series of transverse black bands on the 
hinder part of the back and loins, whence the name of “Tiger” 
frequently applied to it by the colonists. It is also called “ Wolf,” 
and sometimes, though less appropriately, “Hyzena.” Owing to 
the havoc it commits among the sheepfolds, it has been nearly 
exterminated in all the more settled parts of Tasmania, but still 
finds shelter in the almost impenetrable rocky glens of the more 
mountainous regions of the island. The female produces four 
young at a time. The pouch opens backwardly, and there are four 
mamme. The figure of the skull exhibits the peculiar Dog-like 
form so characteristic of the genus. 
Sarcophilus..—Dentition: 1 4,¢4, p2, m4. Upper incisors nearly 
equal, and placed vertically, the first not differentiated from the 
rest. Premolars rounded and closely crowded between the canine 
and molars, with broad crowns; molars broad and heavy, the last 
one without a distinct hind talon. Form thick and powerful ; 
1 F, Cuvier, Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes, iv. (1837). 
