THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
477 
chestnut on the sides, and white on the under parts of the body. The Woolly 
Dasyure ( Antechinomys lanigera) belongs to Central Australia where its three- 
inch body, and five-inch tail are frequently seen. It is mouse-colored above 
and white below, and has a tuft of wool as the crowning glory of its tail. 
The pouch is lacking, and the mammae rudimentary. 
The Tasmanian Devil ( Diabolus , or Dasyurus ursinus,) has finally been greatly 
reduced in number to the gratification of the farmers of Van Dieman’s Land. 
Although smaller than the 
Tasmanian wolf, its stout¬ 
ness, pugnacity and un¬ 
reasoning ferocity render 
it worthy of its name. It 
dresses in black, relieving 
any sombreness by stripes, 
bands, or spots of white. 
It is doubtless the most 
uniformly ill-tempered 
creature in the animal 
world, as rage seems to 
be its normal condition. 
The fact that in the dif¬ 
ferentiations of species it 
went one way while the 
kangaroo went another is 
to be noted. 
The Zebra Wolf, or Dog-headed Opossum ( Thylacymus cynocephalui) , is not 
strictly an opossum , for its hind feet lack thumbs, the tail is hairy and non-prehensile, 
and it has too few incisor teeth in each jaw. It is called the Tasmanian wolf, the 
Australian tiger, the Zebra wolf, 
ZEBRA WOLVES HUNTING. 
and the Australian hyena. It is 
carnivorous like the wolf, to which 
it has many other resemblances. 
Its body slopes forward in con¬ 
sequence of its hind legs being 
longer than the fore legs; its 
elongated thick muzzle is almost 
cylindrical, its tail broad at the base 
tapers to a point, and it dresses 
itself in gray indulging, however, 
in black stripes across its back and 
hind legs. It is very destructive 
to flocks and is hence anything 
. _ but a favorite with farmers. Its 
digestion is sufficiently remarkable to admit of its competing with the goat, 
or the ostrich, since it has been known to eat the porcupine, quills and all. 
The animal is nocturnal in its habits and specially particular about making 
its home wherever the light of day cannot penetrate. The animal has only 
rudimentary marsupial organs. 
The Dasyure ( Dasyurus viverrimus ) is regularly dark-brown inclining to 
DASYURE. 
