MAOKOPODID^. 



II. Cbauial Chakacters. 



A. Diprotodont : incisors large, not ex- 

 ceeding g, commonly ? in number ; 

 Tipper canines generally, and lower 

 always minute or absent. 



a. Molars rooted. Upper incisors 3. 



a'. A deep cavity at the base of the 



masseteric fossa. No minute 



teeth between theloweri.^ and p." I. MacropodidsB, p.3 

 6'. No cavity in the masseteric fossa. 



Minute teeth generally present 



between the lower L} and p.^ . . II. 



b. All the teeth rootless. Upper in- 



cisors 1 on each side III. 



B. Polyprotodont : incisors small, g-^ ; 

 canines, both above and below, long 

 and pointed. 



c. Incisors ^^^. 



c'-. Upper molars with* four external 



cusps ; wearing flat in old age . . IV. 



d}. Upper molars with three external 

 cusps ; sharply cuspidate through- 

 out life , V. 



d. Incisors -. VT. 



Fhalangeridse, 



[p. 126. 

 FhascolomyidsB, 



[p. 212. 



Feramelidse, 



[p. 219. 



Dasyuridse, p. 253. 

 Didelphyidse, 



[p. 315. 



Suborder I. DIPROTODONTIA. 



Incisors three above (one in Phascolomyidoe) and one below 

 (rudimentary second and third incisors sometimes present in 

 Phalangeridce), the latter very long and powerful. Canines usually 

 small, and much surpassed in development by the incisors, especially 

 by i." ; almost invariably absent below. Molars bluntly tuberculate 

 or ridged. 



Frugivorous and graminivorous ; rarely insectivorous. 



Australian only *. 



Family I. MACEOPODID^. 



Diprotodont Marsupials adapted for a terrestrial (rarely arboreal) 

 phytophagous life. Progression generally saltatorial, the hind 

 limbs decidedly longer than the fore. Pore feet with five digits. 



* At the present time. Found during the Mesozoic epoch in Europe, South 

 .^ica, and America, and persistent in the latter until the earlier part of the 

 Eocene period. 



b2 



