5B 
MEMOIRS OF TEE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 
Wegener hypothesis have been invoked in order to demonstrate the possibility 
of transit for the two or three living marsupials in the two continents which 
are considered by some authorities to be lineally related. 
These remarks are prefatory to a list of species and certain subspecies 
of present-day marsupials, comprising over ninety names. Much new knowledge 
has been gained through the material collected for the British Museum, mainly 
through Captain (now Sir Hubert) Wilkins, which was worked up by that rare 
enthusiast the late Oldfield Thomas. Valuable material was also obtained by 
Mr. H. C. Raven for the American Museum of Natural History, New York, 
following the visit to Australia of Professor W. K. Gregory. Although excellent 
work has also been done by such Australians as E. Le G. Troughton and A. S- 
Le Souef, and by Professor F. Wood-Jones, we have to admit, with regret, 
that our efforts have been somewhat limited in comparison. Fortunately, 
however, representatives of most of this new material have been lodged in the 
Queensland Museum. 
The multiplicity of genera in recent years is another interesting develop- 
ment. The late Allan McCulloch once expressed the opinion that there was a 
danger, if some enthusiasts had their way, of a distinct genus being created 
for every species. Fortunately the entomologists, whose species are legion, will 
prevent this from being carried out. Some ornithologists, however, have 
certainly done their best, or worst, in this direction. 
In earlier years we included all the “ native cats ” in one genus, but 
R. I. Pocock has recently established four genera for the four best-known 
Australian species of Dasyurus (1926). 4 Time alone will prove whether 
systematists generally will adopt this principle, and there is certainly much to 
be said for the generic separation of D. maculatus from D. hallucatus , but this 
leads naturally to the establishment of the other genera and so the splitting 
goes on. Paul Matsehie, of Berlin, has also proposed new genera, and several 
subgenera, including two subgenera for Dasyurus in 1 9 16, 5 antedating Pocock, 
but he deals mainly with Papuan species. 
The genus Macropus is now restricted by some authors to the kangaroos, 
large wallabies being placed in Wallabia ami small wallabies in Thylogale, but 
when recent fossil forms are also considered there are grave difficulties in 
adopting this nomenclature. 
It is of interest to note that during the last ten years no less than 
ten new' species of Petrogale (Rock Wallabies) have been described, two by 
A. S. Le Souef and eight by Oldfield Thomas. These form an interesting 
parallel to the ten subspecies of Wallaroos that have been described, although 
some of the Rock Wallabies seem very distinct, doubtless through lengthy 
isolation. The creation of subspecies in several genera has been an outstanding 
feature of the more recent work. 
4 ]926: R. i: Pocock, P.Z.S., p. 1082. 
5 1916: P. Matsehie, M tt. Zool. Mus., Berlin, Bd. 8, Heft 2. 
