FOSSIL MARSOPIALS OF 
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 
By BERNARD H. WOODWARD, F.G.S., C.M Z.S., Director of the 
W.A. Museum and Art Gallery. 
INTRODUCTION. 
I N 1882, the late Mr. E. T. Hardman, F.G.S., the Government 
Geologist, reported the occurrence of Diprotodon bones in the 
Leonard River, Kimberley. 
In 1895 Mr. Arthur found in a gully near Lake Darlot, a 
portion of a lower jaw of this animal, which he presented to 
this Museum. The specimen was, unfortunately, so much 
weathered that it was valueless except as a record. In 1898 the 
Museum Committee sent an expedition to Lake Darlot, and in 
1908 the Hon. Dr. Hackett, at his own cost, sent another party 
to this place to search for further specimens, but neither succeeded 
in the quest. 
In February, 1909, Mr. John Sharp, of Balladonia, Point 
Malcolm, on the South Coast, sent to the Museum a number of 
bones and a few teeth of Diprotodon australis that he had unearthed 
when sinking for water near his station, and has promised to send 
any more that may be found. These bones were so common in 
that district some years ago, that the settlers considered them of 
too little value to be worth preserving, but now that they have been 
awakened to their scientific interest, they will save and forward to 
Perth all future discoveries. 
In 1904, Mr, E. A. Le Soeuf heard that some bones had been 
found in the Mammoth Cave, Margaret River, so he proceeded to 
the spot and secured a large number of fragments from a cutting 
that had been made when a pathway was being formed under the 
direction of the Superintendent of the Caves, Mr. Edgar Robinson. 
