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of the great oblique tnu»clos inserted on ths pelvis. During the entire period of nursing it bold* the young In Immediate and continual contact with their mother, and, later on, aorvci them ai a place of refuge when danger tin catena them. 'I Lit, however, ia not the only peculiarity of organisation that the manu|na!i exhibit. for diatincttvo sign* might alao be easily found in the conformation of the feet. in ttie development of the ela* iole, and in tb# arrangement of tbo lower jaw. On the contrary, the braiu, the dentition anil the digertivo apparatus do not furnish good characters, for they ore not constructed upon a uniform type. Indeed, In Hi* marsupial*, they exhibit variations analogous to those observed in ordinary mammals and that are in direct relation with the degree of Intelligence, nature and habits. Thus, whlla in the giant kangaroo the cerebral hemispheres are voluminous and contain many folds, la the aarcophile, which belong* to tba same order, the enceohal oa is greatly reduced and the brain entire!v smooth ; and, while the aama kangaroo resembles tho tapir in the form of its molar teeth, the wombat recalls the rodents in Its jaws, deprived of canines, but pa—ring strong incisors.The differences are no leu striking in the external form and in the proportions of the various j part* of the body, and it is |«siiiraly necessary ' to examine closely in order to discover the bonds of parentage between the little potauriste* and the bolide*, which hate the bushy tail of the squirrel ami the alar membranes or a polatouche, and the great kaDgaroo whore pyramidal body rests unon a sort of tripod formed of a ma»ire tail and hind legs two or three times larger than the fore leg*.So great is the diversity that wo find among the marsupial* that one might even bo tempted to establish a system of imrnllcl classifications forthesa animals and tho r-rdinary mammals. But one would *ory quickly find himself arrested by a oertain number of important gapa. for, among the present marsupial*, there exist no types comparable to tho hals. seals, elephants, hones, Ac. On the contrary, it i certain that tho kaugaiooj, uow to common In zoologicalat the extremity. Tho head is of a. palo shade, but a dark line extends on each side through the eye, at the angle of which thore b a Uwrny epot, and the muzzle la of a dark color, with a little white on the edge of tha upper lip. The latter is provided with long mustaches, and. aa in the dog, a few hairs are Implanted In tha cheeks and over the eyea, which latter are larga and have a dark chestnut brown ball.To complete this description, let ns aay further that In the thylaeiMa the marsupial character is scarcely Indicated, the bones designed to support the ventral pouch being rudlmebtary. It is not astonishing, then, that the first colonist* took these animals fur genuine wolves, and the less so in that, although tho proportions differ, the sixo Is about the same in the two animal*. This explains why the common name tcbra wolf was given to the thylocine concu*rently with the namrs tiger, hyena, zebra op xsmni and dog bended imosaum. The thylacinoi hunt the kangaroo* and bandi-cooU, and alao attack the echidnas, which they ■uceoed in strangling and devouring despite the ■pines that constitute the defensive armor of that# singular mammals. It la eTen awcrted that formeily, while they were as yet wandering upon the sea shore, they fed greedily upon the remains of seals, decayed fish and molluscs cart up by the waves, but the settling of European colonist* in Tasmania furnished the Indigenous carnivora with a more succulent food. In fact, the e‘Ioni*ts introduced domestic animal* upon the i.Iand atul devoted themselves to the raising of cattle and poultry upon a large scale, so that the thylacines easily found the wherewithal to satisfy their sanguinary appetite*, and so much the more easily in that in their quality of nocturnal animals they could profit by the darkness to slaughter sheep in the folds and fowl in the poultry yar.ls. In order to defend their property against such terrible enemies, the farmer* had to display all their vigilance and energy', and it wo* not without great trouble that they succeeded in dririeg the animal* to tho mountains. It was eipociully by setting traps for them that sneer** obtained in arresting their multiplication, foi although tho thylacines date not
Newspaper Details
Orange Leader
Orange, New South Wales, AU
Sat, Apr 26, 1890
Page 47
Full Page
Clipped by
David O.
AU 08 Jan 2023
Other Publications Near Orange, New South Wales
Orange Leader
