October, 1927 The Queensland Naturalist. 43 
for the lead it had given in bringing the matter before 
the public. lie noticed that the Acting Premier (Mr. W. 
Forgan Smith) was trying to justify his stand, and said 
that bushmen and rangers advised that the bear and 
’possum in many districts were plentiful. This statement, 
said Mr. Barker, according to information he had received 
from bushmen, and from his own personal knowledge, 
was incorrect. The native bear was practically extinct 
in most districts in the State. It did not breed or increase 
as did the ’possum, and another factor that was tending to 
destroy the bear was that trappers and others did not 
seem to care whether the season was open or not. They 
trapped them all the year round, with the sure knowledge 
that the Government would sooner or later declare an 
open season, and they would then be able to get rid o-f 
their skins. 
Mr. Heber A. Longman (Director of the Museum) 
observed that the preservation of the native bears was 
a matter in which the whole of the scientific world was 
concerned. 
The Koala or native bear, he said, was not only one 
of the most interesting of our marsupials, but it was 
recognised by scientists as one of the most remarkable 
animals of the whole world. Unlike kangaroos, walla- 
bies, wombats, and ’possums, the Koala was represented 
by a single species only. It stood alone, without close 
allies, as a survivor of the richer fauna of the past. It 
possessed so many special characters that the highest 
authorities now placed it in a distinct sub-family of its 
own. At one time it was included with the common ’pos- 
sum and the ‘ ‘ ringtails ” in the family Phalangeride, but 
in several respects it differed greatly from those arboreal 
marsupials. The absence of an external tail was an 
obvious distinction. Instead of possessing a typical bag- 
like pouch, which opened forward as in kangaroos and 
’possums, the Koala had a pouch which was widely ex- 
tended at the sides, and which opened backwards. It 
also differed from the ’possums in having the fore and 
hind feet of practically equal size. On either side of the 
upper jaw the Koala had a curious structure known as a 
cheek-pouch. The cavity served to retain nortions of 
masticated food, which were subsequently digested. No- 
ether living marsupial had a cheek-pouch of this type, 
but in the opinion of the speaker it was present in some 
of the gigantic marsupials of the past. 
