342 PALEONTOLOGY. 



the crowns of those teeth differ from those in Didelphys, and 

 correspond so closely with those in the Amphilestes Broderipii, 

 as to shew the closer affinity of the Phascolothere with the 

 latter oolitic Tnsectivore ; and, accordingly, whatever addi- 

 tional evidence of marsupiality is afforded by the Phascolo- 

 therium, may be regarded as strengthening the claims of both 

 Amphilestes and Amphitherium to be admitted into the mar- 

 supial group. The general form and proportions of the coronoid 

 process of the jaw of Phascolotherium resemble those in the 

 zoophagous Marsupials ; and especially with that of the 

 Thylacynus in regard to the depth and form of the entering 

 notch between this process and the condyle. 



The base of the inwardly-bent angle of the lower jaw pro-, 

 gressively increases in Didelphys, Dasyurus, and Thylacinus ; 

 and judging from the fractured surface of the corresponding 

 part of the fossil, it most nearly resembles the jaw of Thyla- 

 cinus. The condyle of the jaw is prominent, and nearer the 

 plane of the inferior margin of the ramus in the Thylacine 

 than in the Dasyures or opossums : and consequently, when 

 the inflected angle is broken off, the curve of the line continued 

 from the condyle along the lower margin of the jaw is least in 

 the Thylacine. In this particular, again, the Phascolothere 

 resembles that Australian Carnivore. In the position of the 

 dental foramen, the Phascolothere, like the Amphithere, differs 

 from the zoophagous Marsupials and placental Carnivora and 

 Insectivora, and resembles the Hypsiprymnus, a marsupial 

 Herbivore, that orifice being near the vertical line dropped 

 from the last molar tooth. In the direction of the line of the 

 symphysis, the Phascolothere resembles the Opossums more 

 than the Dasyures or Thylacines. It is probable that the 

 teeth at the fore part of the jaw shewed the same correspon- 

 dence. In the number of the molar series, Phascolotherium 

 differs from Amphitherium, Amphilestes, and Myrmecobms, and 

 resembles the Thylacine and Opossum, but without having 



