and Dasyurus
thescientific name of the genus of Australian animals called Native Cats. See under Cat. The first form isthe Anglicized spelling and is scientifically used inpreference to the misleading vernacular name. From the Greek dasus, thick with hair, hairy, shaggy, and 'oura,tail. They range over Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and theadjacent islands. Unlike the Thylacine and TasmanianDevil (q.v.), which are purely terrestrial, the Dasyurus are arboreal in their habits, while they areboth carnivorous and insectivorous.
The Thylacine, Tasmanian Devil, Pouched Mice, and BandedAnt-eater have sometimes been incorrectly classed as Dasyures, but the name is now strictly allotted to thegenus Dasyurus, or Native Cat.