The geographical distribution of animals, with a study of the relations ...

;chap, xiii.] THE AUSTRALIAN REGION. 439peculiar types being found only here. The southern portion issomewhat poorer, and has very few peculiar forms ; and Tasmaniabeing isolated is poorer still, yet its zoology has much resemblanceto that of Victoria, from which country it has evidentlynot been very long separated. The north, as far as yet known, ischaracterised by hardly any peculiar forms, but by the occurrenceof a number of Papuan types, which have evidently been derivedfrom New Guinea.Mammalia.—The Australian sub-region contains about 160species of Mammalia, of which 3 are Monotremata, 102 Marsupials,23 Chiroptera, 1 Carnivora (the native dog, probably notindigenous), and 31 Muridae. The north is characterised by aspecies of the Austro-Malayan genus Cuscus.Phascolarctos (thekoala, or native bear) is found only in the eastern districts;Phascolomys (the wombat) in the south-east and TasmaniaPetaurista (a peculiar form of flying opossum), in the east.Thylacinus(the zebra-wolf), and Sarcophilus (the " native devil "),two carnivorous marsupials, are confined to Tasmania. WestAustralia, the most isolated and peculiar region botanically,alone possesses the curious littlehoney-eating Tarsipes, and thePeragalea, or native rabbit. The remarkable Myrmecobius, asmall ant-eating marsupial, is found in the west and south;and Onychogalea, a genus of kangaroos, in West and CentralAustralia. All the other genera have a wider distribution, aswill be seen by a reference to the list at the end of thischapter.Plate XL A Scene in Tasmania, with Characteristic Mammalia.—As some of the most remarkable Mammalia of the Australianregion are now found only in Tasmania, we have chosen thisisland for the scene of our first illustration of the fauna of theAustralian sub-region. The pair of large striped animals arezebra-wolves {Thylacinus cynocephalus), the largest and most destructiveof the carnivorous marsupials.These creatures used tobe tolerably plentiful in Tasmania, where they are alone found.They are also called "native tigers," or " native hyaenas;" and bein^destructive to sheep, they have been destroyed by the farmersand will doubtless soon be exterminated.In the foreground on-'e*