155 



fessor Owen meets the argument in my paper by the assertion that the condyle of Pla- 

 giaulax is ' pedunculate, as in the predaceous marsupials.' If so, I invite him to adduce 

 the instance, bearing in mind that the question here is one of degree*". 



The virtual acceptance of this " invitation " had been given years before in the instance 

 of the Phascolotheref, which, like Plagiaulaw, is an extinct marsupial carnivore from 

 an oolitic deposit. 



The required structure is shown in the Cut (fig. 11, b) of the articular extremity of 



Fig. 11. 



Articular end of mandible, Thylacinus cynocephalus : two-thirds nat. size. 



the mandible in Thylacinus cynocephalus%. In nearly the same degree is the condyle 

 pedunculate in Potamogale (fig. 3, p. 150), and in a somewhat less degree in Sarcophilux 

 (fig. 12, b). 



Fig. 12. 



Mandible of Sarcaphilus ursinus (after nature). 



I may assume that the extent of condylar prominence and position in the instances 

 cited will be admitted to have justified, as, indeed, they formed the basis of, the assertion 

 of the community of the " pedunculated condyle," such as it is shown in figs. 10 & 11 at b. 



* X. p. 362 ; XI. p. 447. 



t Transactions of the Geological Society of London, 2nd series, vol. vi. (1839) p. 58, pi. 6. 

 X See ' Descriptive Catalogue of the Osteological Series contained in the Museum of the Royal College ol 

 Surgeons of England,' 4to, 1853, p. 347. nos. 1903-1908. 



