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So far as the imperfect materials which exist enable a judgment to be formed, the same law appears to have held good for all the earlier Mesozoic Mammalia. Of the Stonesfield slate mammals, one, Amphitherium, has a definitely Australian character; one, Phascolotherium, may be either Dasyurid or Didelphine; of a third, Stereognathus, nothing can at present be said.
Right ramus of lower jaw. Natural size. Part of lower jaw of Tupaia tana. Twice natural size. Part of lower jaw of Didelphys Azarae; recent, Brazil. Natural size. Amphitherium Prevostii, Cuvier sp. Stonesfield Slate. Syn. Thylacotherium Prevostii, Valenc. a. Coronoid process. b. Condyle. c. Angle of jaw. d. Amphitheriumm Broderipii, Owen. Natural size.
This fact made him doubt whether the Amphitherium might not be an insectivorous placental, although it offered some points of approximation in its osteology to the marsupials, especially to the Myrmecobius, a small insectivorous quadruped of Australia, which has nine molars on each side of the lower jaw, besides a canine and three incisors. Phascolotherium Bucklandi, Broderip, sp. a.
These observations are made to prepare the reader to appreciate more justly the interest felt by every geologist in the discovery in the Stonesfield slate of no less than ten specimens of lower jaws of mammiferous quadrupeds, belonging to four different species and to three distinct genera, for which the names of Amphitherium, Phascolotherium, and Stereognathus have been adopted. Tupaia tana.
So far as the imperfect materials which exist enable a judgment to be formed, the same law appears to have held good for all the earlier Mesozoic Mammalia. Of the Stonesfield slate mammals, one, Amphitherium, has a definitely Australian character; one, Phascolotherium, may be either Dasyurid or Didelphine; of a third, Stereognathus, nothing can at present be said.
I can prove by a bone in my body that my ancestors were the Amphitherium, the Amphilestes, the Phascolotherium, and the Stereognathus!" almost shrieked the little creature.
The Tupaia Tana of Sumatra has been selected by Mr. Waterhouse for this illustration, because the jaws of that small insectivorous quadruped bear a great resemblance to those of the Stonesfield Amphitherium.
I can prove by a bone in my body that my ancestors were the Amphitherium, the Amphilestes, the Phascolotherium, and the Stereognathus!" almost shrieked the little creature.
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