From deposits of
this age there has been disentombed a whole series of remains of
extinct, and for the most part gigantic, examples of this group
of Quadrupeds. Not to speak of Wombats and Phalangers, two forms
stand out prominently as representatives of the Post-Pliocene
animals of Australia. One of these is _Diprotodon_ (fig. 258),
representing, with many differences, the well-known modern group
of the Kangaroos. In its teeth, _Diprotodon_ shows itself to
be closely allied to the living, grass-eating Kangaroos; but
the hind-limbs were not so disproportionately long. In size,
also, _Diprotodon_ must have many times exceeded the dimensions
of the largest of its living successors, since the skull measures
no less than three feet in length. The other form in question
is _Thylacoleo_ (fig. 259), which is believed by Professor Owen
to belong to the same group as the existing "Native Devil"
(_Dasyurus_) of Van Diemen's Land, and therefore to have been
flesh-eating and rapacious in its habits, though this view is
not accepted by others. The principal feature in the skull of
_Thylacoleo_ is the presence, on each side of each jaw, of a
single huge tooth, which is greatly compressed, and has a cutting
edge. This tooth is regarded by Owen as corresponding to the
great cutting tooth of the jaw of the typical Carnivores, but
Professor Flower considers that _Thylacoleo_ is rather related to
the Kangaroo-rats.
Pages:
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520