been syndactylous, and the authors of the account[1] of these bones think that the fourth toe may have shared in this syndactyly. The metatarsal of the fifth digit is enormously expanded at its edge, and seems to have furnished a strong support to the creature; this is also seen in the metacarpal of the fore-limb. Probably, therefore, Diprotodon was quadrupedal in its mode of progression, with the emphasis laid upon the little finger and the little toe instead of, as in ourselves, the first toe. The hind-foot of the Diprotodon could not be more unlike that of a Kangaroo than it actually is.
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Fig. 73.—Diprotodon australis. (After Owen.) |
Fig. 74.—Thylacoleo carnifex. Side view of skull. (After Flower.) |
Another giant among these Marsupials was the genus Thylacoleo, whose name was given to it by Sir Richard Owen on the view that it was a Marsupial Tiger. Sir W. Flower has, however, controverted this opinion, and the genus is in fact, in spite of its large size, closely allied to the Phalangers and
- ↑ Stirling and Zietz, Mem. Roy. Soc. South Australia, i.; see also a notice in Nature, January 18, 1900.
