262 DASTnEIBiB. 



downwards, its walls of about equal depth all the way round. 

 Mammse 6 or 8, arranged in two outwardly curved series. 



Skull of medium proportions ; palatal vacuities large. BuUse 

 large and inflated, rounded, transparent. Axis vertebra of medium 

 length. No entepicondyloid foramen on humerus. 



dentition :-I. l±^, C. \, P. .i^i^lt^, M. i^|^ x 2=42. 



Teeth more insectivorous in their character than in Thylaeinus 

 and Sarcophilus. Upper i.' pointed, cylindrical, not flattened at its 

 tip, as are the other three, separated from its fellow of the opposite 

 side. Premolars pointed, much longer than broad, separated from 

 each other Mid from m.^ by the gaps caused by the missing p.^ 

 and p.* Molars multicuspidate ; ms.i-^ with their anterior and 

 central secondary cusps nearly or quite as long as the main central 

 one; m.'' without a marked posterior, but with a large internal 

 talon. Lower teeth narrow, laterally compressed, their general 

 characters corresponding to those of the upper jaw. Molars 

 (except m.') with a prominent secondary cusp on the inner side of 

 the main central one (see PL XXIV. fig. 3) and with a small extra 

 cusp on the internal corner of the posterior basal ledge. M.' 

 with scarcely a trace of the small anterior secondary cusp found in 

 Thylaeinus and generally in Phaseologale. 



Milk-premolars absent, as in Sarcophilus. 



Habits. Arboreal ; carnivorous and insectivorous. 



Range. "Whole of Papuan and Australian subregions. 



The Dasyures or " Native Gats " are among the best known of the 

 Marsupials, as they render themselves notorious and obnoxious to 

 the settlers by their serious depredations in poultry-yardS and 

 similar places. In fact, their habits would seem to be almost 

 precisely similar to those of the Martens, whose position they 

 clearly occupy in the Australian fauna, living in trees and feeding 

 largely upon birds and their eggs. It seems probable that the 

 species 0. viverrinus and D. geoffroyi) which, like the ThylSipine 

 and Tasmanian Devil, have no distinct striated pads on their feet 

 are less exclusively arboreal than those so provided, judging from 

 the analogy of other forms in which the climbing-powers and 

 habits vary in precisely the same ratio as the development of these 

 distinctly chmbing-organs. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



I. EXTBENAL ChAKACTEKS. 



A. Size large. Tail spotted. Foot-pads dis- 



tinct, transversely striated 1. D. maculatus, p. 263. 



B. Size medium or small. Tail not spotted. 



a. Foot-pads tuberculated like rest of sole. 

 a^. No hallux; tail white at end (except' 



in black variety) 2. D. viverrinus, p. 265. 



6^ A hallux ; tail becoming black at end 3. D. geoffroyi, p. 268. 



b. Foot-pads distinct, transversely striated. 



c^ Fur straight, not woolly. Ears large 4. D. hallucatus, p. 269. 

 d^. Fur short and woolly. Ears small.. 6. D. atbopunctaius, -p. 271. 



