CONILURUS. 



113 



mottled yellowish-brown, below grayish-white ; a dark patch 

 at the anterior portion of the base of the ear ; fore feet 

 grayish-white, hind feet and toes long and slender, pure white ; 

 tail brown above, grayish-white below, with the tip almost black. 



Dimensions. Head and body to six and three-fourths inches ; 

 tail to six and a half inches. 



Habitat. Northern Tasmania. 



Reference. Higgins & Petterd, Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. 1883, 

 p. 185. 



Note. The authors of the species state that M. tamarensis is 

 " extremely abundant on the banks of the river Tamar, and 

 probably widely distributed over the island. Settlers residing 

 near the river suffer much from its destructive propensities." 



In a later paper by the same authors describing yet another 

 new Tasmanian species of Mus, a list of the " Terrestrial Animals 

 of Tasmania " is given. From this list the name of M. tamarensis 

 is omitted, although no comment is made by the authors on the 

 reason for the excision of this their latest species. 



26. Mus TETRAGONUEUS, H. & P. (1883). 

 Quadrangular-tailed Rat. 



Form stout ; ears short and broadly rounded ; tail short, 

 quadrangular ; fur very long and soft. General color above dark 

 ashy-gray, thickly interspersed with longer blackish hairs ; lips 

 and entire under surface slaty-gray ; hands and feet ashy-gray ; 

 tail brown. 



Dimensions. Head and body to six inches ; tail to less than 

 four inches. 



Habitat. Tasmania. 



Reference. Higgins and Petterd, Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas. 1883, 

 p. 195. 



Genus IV. CONTLURUS, W. Ogilly (1838). 



Hind limbs more or less elongated. Incisive foramina very 

 large. No coronoid process to the lower jaw. Ears and tail 

 long. 



Distribution. Australia. 

 Dentition. I. -.. M. | x 2 = 16. 



1 o 



Note. I have been reluctantly obliged to abandon the better 

 known name Hapalotis (Lichtenstein, 1829), in favor of the 

 above, proposed by my father, since the former name was used 

 by Hiibner in 1816 for a genus of Lepidopterous insects, and 



