196 Prof. Owen on the Fossil Mammals of Australia. [Feb. 10, 



III. " On the Fossil Mammals of Australia. — Part III. Diprotodon 

 australis, Owen." By Prof. Owen, F.R.S. &c. Received De- 

 cember 10, 1869. 



(Abstract.) 



In this paper the author communicates descriptions, with figures of the 

 fossil remains at his command, of Diprotodon australis, which have been 

 received from various localities in Australia, since the first announcement of 

 the genus, founded on a fragment of the lower jaw and tusk, described and 

 figured in the ' Appendix ' to Sir Thos. Mitchell's ' Three Expeditions 

 into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' 8vo, 1838. 



The fossils in question include the entire cranium and lower jaw with 



most of the teeth, showing the dental formula of : — t. — , c. — , m. —=28 ; 



' s i— r o— o' 5—5 



portions of jaws and teeth exemplifying characteristics of age and sex ; 

 many bones of the trunk and extremities. 



After some introductory remarks, the author proceeds to the descrip- 

 tion of the skull and teeth, which are illustrated by many figures, those 

 of the teeth being of the natural size. The result of the compari- 

 sons detailed establishes the marsupial character of Diprotodon, and the 

 combination of characters of Macropus and Phascolomys with special modi- 

 fications of its own. These latter are more fully and strongly manifested 

 in the bones of the trunk and limbs, subsequently described. The pelvis 

 and femora present resemblances to those in Proboscidea, not hitherto 

 observed in any other remains of large extinct quadrupeds of Australia. 

 But in all the bones described essentially marsupial characteristics are 

 more or less determinable. The paper concludes with a summary of the 

 characters of Diprotodon, throwing light upon the conditions of its ex- 

 tinction, its analogies with the Megatherium, its affinities to existing 

 forms of Marsupialia, and the more generalized condition which it mani- 

 fests of that mammalian type. 



A table of the localities in Australia from which remains of Diprotodon 

 have been obtained, and a table of the principal admeasurements of the 

 skeleton, are appended to the text. 



February 10, 1870. 



Lieut.-General Sir EDWARD SABINE, K.C.B., President, in 



the Chair. 



The Right Hon. Lord Napier of Magdala, and M. Charles Eugene 

 Delaunay (Foreign Member) were admitted into the Society. 



The following communications were read : — 



