TEE MARSUPIALS OF QUEENSLAND. 
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THE MARSUPIALS OF QUEENSLAND. 
By Heber A. Longman, F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. (Director).* 
Owing to the fact that settlement in the southern parts of Australia 
preceded the occupation of our northern areas, it is not surprising that the 
majority of more recent additions to our fauna have come from Queensland, 
the Northern Territory and islands, and the northern parts of West Australia. 
In 1912 the late Charles Hedley stated in an address to the Linnean Society 
of London : “ In Australia marsupials and monotremes are least developed in 
the North ; proceeding southwards more groups successively appear till 
ultimately Tasmania has, as Professor Spencer expressed it, a condensation of 
most that is noteworthy in the Australian region.” * 1 This was a surprising 
statement, even in 1912, especially in view of the rich fossil marsupial fauna of 
the mainland. 
In commenting on the statements made by exponents of the Antarctic 
theory, I pointed out in a previous paper 2 that, with the exception of the 
rare Gyrnnobelideus, there is not a genus of living marsupials that is unrepre- 
sented in either the Torresian or Eyresian (Eremian) sub-regions. Although no 
striking discoveries have been made since 1924, the additions recorded to our 
list of marsupials strengthen my criticism. It is not necessary to traverse the 
diverse views expressed as to the origin of our marsupials dealt with in another 
paper. 3 Neither do I wish to lay stress on the present distribution of our 
marsupials as affording definite evidence as to their northern or southern 
entrance into this continent in the remote past. But if the facts of present-day 
and recent distribution have any value it is obvious that the evidence yielded 
is opposed to the Antarctic theory. 
The marsupials of Australia comprise so many distinctive genera that it 
seems quite logical to suggest that their evolution has largely taken place 
within our own region. Although the palaeontological evidence is incomplete, 
it is now obvious that our fossil marsupials were even more distinctively 
Australian than those of to-day. Such genera as Diprotodon , Notoiherium , 
Eury zygoma, Phascolonus, Sthenurus. Palorchestes, Procoptodon, and Thylacoleo 
are specialised marsupials with no known near relatives outside of the Australian 
region. No serious attempt has yet been made to derive these extinct species 
from any known forms in South America, even though the assumptions of the 
*The substance of this paper was read before Section D (Zoology) at the Brisbane meeting of 
the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1930. 
1 1912 : C. Hedley, Pr. Linn. Soc.. London, 124th session, p. 84. 
2 1924 : H. A. Longman, Rep. A.A.A.S., vol. 17, p. 362. 
3 1924 : H. A. Longman, Mem. Qld. Mus. vol. viii, pp. 1-16. 
