Sept.. 1923 
^0 The Queensiaiid Natutaiisl. 
Deposits on the Darling Downs showed a wealth oi: mar- 
supial life. The giant Dipi’otodon, with a skull a yaro 
in length, was the largest known marsupial. The l)riga- 
I 0 W skull, naiuetl Euryzygoina, was one of the most gro- 
lesque nieiulters ot tin* mammalia, and its large cheek 
plates flared out on eaeii side of its head, which was 
s'ighlly wider than its*aeliial length. JSoiue of the giant 
kangaroos of the past would have easily dwarfed their 
successors, and in one species the fore and hind legs were 
almost equal. The so-calh'd “pouched ass, “Phascolomus, 
was an immense wombat. Tlio Tasmanian “DeviP’ and 
fhe marsupial wolf were n-presented by fossil relatives in 
Queensland. A large (oindvore, known as the pouched 
!ion (Thylaeoleo) evidendy took a heavy toll of the 
lierhivorous marsuj)ials. end many of the boires found 
with it showed the marks of its teeth. 
Large crocodiles once wandered about South Queens- 
land, and a giant lizards, allied 1() the monitors or goannas 
of to-day, was about 16 feet long. Fossil deposits showed 
that certain inland parts of Australia, now arid, were 
very fertile, and supported many forms of aquatic life. 
The skull of an immense horned tortoise had been found, 
the nearest relatives of wdiich w'cre fossils from Lord 
Iiowe Tslaiid and ibitagonia. 
The lecturer showed a number of marine fossils from 
Western Queensland, which liA’ed in the Cretaceous ocean 
tlint once se])arated Australia into eastern and wcsteim 
parts. Amongst these were the fish-like lizards known as 
ichthyosaurs, a»nl a giant turtle nann‘d Cratoehelone. 
which was twice the size of the largest turtles of to-day. 
■ 11 addition to Australian animals, a large number of 
slides were screened, illustrating the more ri'inarkable 
fossil vertebrates from other lands. One of tlu'se, nanusl 
'1 yraimosaurus, from Hell Creek, Montana, TJ.S.A., was 
a colossal carnivorous animal, whose capacious mouth 
was armed with strong teeth, the skull being about 
o feet in length. 
F]vening Meeting. IHth June. 1923. — Prolessor ¥ j . 
(ouldard. B.A.. R.Se., before a large gathering of mem- 
bers. delivered an interesting address on the geology ami 
l)(dnny of South Africa. Professor Goddard, before his 
ei)])ointment at the Queensland University, held the posi- 
lioii (if Professor of Geology and Biology at the Stellen- 
liosch TTniversity, Cape Colony, for 13 years. The differ- 
nil floral regions traversed, and a large series of 
lantern slides shown. depictiTig types for a larire }>art 
