CARNIVOROUS MARSUPIALS 



149 



It may also be comparable to the great premolar of such ]\[ulti- 

 tuberculata as Ptilodus and Plagia,ulax. It is^ moreover, marked 

 with vertical grooves. 



An interesting form, which is unfortunately but little known, 

 is the Australian and I'leistocene genus Triclis, with one species, 

 T. osciUdns. In having a minute canine tooth in the lower jaw 

 it agrees with some Phalangeridae, and being otherwise closely 

 allied to Sypsiprymnodon, it unites the Macropodidae with the 

 Phalangeridae. 



Sub-Oedei! 2. POLYPEOTODONTIA. 



In this mainly carnivorous or insectivorous division of the 

 Marsupials the incisors are four or five on each side of the upper 



Fig. 76 



-Front view of the skull of Tasmanian Devil [SarcophUus ursinus), showing 

 Polyprotodont and carnivorous dentition. (After Flower.) 



jaw, and one or two fewer in the lower jaw. Pigs. 76 and 77 

 illustrate the Polyprotodont and Diprotodont dentitions. The 

 canines are those of flesh-eaters and so are the molars, being as a 

 rule sharply cuspidate. As a rule, which has an exception in the 

 Peramelidae, there is no syndactylism of toes in the hind-foot. 

 This sub-order is at the present day Australian and American in 

 its range. 



Fam. 1. Dasyuridae. — This family consists of Marsupials 

 which are generally pentadactylous, but with occasionally the 

 hallux missing The tail is long but not prehensile. The pouch 

 is present or absent. The teeth vary in the different genera, but 



