THYLACOLEO 



147 



been syndactylous, and the authors of the account ' of these bones 

 think that the fourth toe may have shared in this syndactyly. 

 The metatarsal of the fifth digit is enormously expanded at its 



Fig. 73. — Diprotodon austmlis. (After Owen.) 



edge, and seems to have furnished a strong support to the 

 creature ; this is also seen in the metacarpal of the fore-limb. 

 Probably, therefore, Diprotodon was quadrupedal in its mode of 

 progression, with the em- 

 phasis laid upon the 

 httle finger and the 

 little toe instead of, as 

 in ourselves, the first 

 toe The hind-foot of 

 the Diprotodo7V could 

 not be more unlike that 

 of a Kangaroo than it 

 actually is. 



Another giant among 

 these Marsupials was the 

 genus Thylacoleo, whose name was given to it by Sir Eichard 

 Owen on the view that it was a Marsupial Tiger. Sir W. Flower 

 has, however, controverted this opinion, and the genus is in fact, 

 in spite of its large size, closely allied to the Phalangers and 



^ Stirling and Zietz, Mem. Roy. Soc. South Australia, i. ; see also a notice in 

 Nature, January 18, 1900. 



Fig. 74.- 



-Tliylacoleo carnifex. Side view of skull. 

 (After FloAver.) 



