362 



HISTORICAL PALEONTOLOGY. 



existed in the same area in the Eocene and Miocene periods ; 

 but if size be any criterion, the culminating point in the history 

 of the order was attained during the Post-Pliocene period in 

 Australia. From deposits of 

 this age there has been disen- 

 tombed a whole series of re- 

 mains of extinct, and for the 

 most part gigantic, examples 

 of this group of Quadrupeds. 

 Not to speak of Wombats and 

 Phalangers, two forms stand 

 out prominently as represen- 

 tatives of the Post-Pliocene 

 animals of Australia. One of 

 these is Diprotodon (fig. 258), representing, with many differ- 

 ences, the well-known modern group of the Kangaroos. In 

 its teeth, Diprotodon shows itself to be closely allied to the 



"Fig. 258. Skull of Diprotrxton. Australia, 

 greatly reduced. Post- Pliocene. Australia. 



Fig. 259. Skull of Thylacoleo. Post-Pliocene. Australia. Greatly reduced. 

 (After Flower.) 



t 



living, grass-eating Kangaroos ; - but the hind-limbs were not 

 so disproportionately long. In size, also, Diprotodon must 

 have many times exceeded the dimensions of the largest of 

 its living successors, since the skull measures no less than 

 three feet in length. The other form in question is Thylacoleo 

 (fig. 259), which is believed by Professor Owen to belong to 

 the same group as the existing " Native Devil " (Dasyurns) of 



