14 THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY 



portion of the body are altogether whitish. The ears are com- 

 pressed, rounded, short, and comparatively small for the size of 

 the animal. The throat and chest are tinted conspicuously with 

 lio-ht tawny. The nose is much shorter, the canines are nearer 

 to the premolars, and the incisors closer to the canines than in 

 P. nasuta. The under side of the tail is uniform whitish, and 

 the upper, dark brown to the tips. Lastly, there is no shade of 

 purple on any part of the body. 



It may be distinguished from Perameles macroura by the tawny 

 throat and chest, and much whiter under surface, and is altogether 

 a very heavily built animal. In size it is equal to P. macroura 

 of Gould. 



For th.e present I prefer to place the specimens, showing these 

 peculiarities, as a variety of P. macroura, rather than create a 

 new species. 



Perameles, moresbyensis, sp. nov. 

 The Port Moresby Bandicoot. 



The head is conical, the snout long, thin, and pointed, the ears 

 large, rounded, almost as broad as long, the tail moderate, about 

 half the length of the body without the head, the legs moderate. 

 The hair is harsh and stiff, almost spiny, the inner fur soft and 

 uniform. The general color above is dark brown, pencilled with 

 deep bright rusty yellow and black, some of the hairs yellow, 

 others black, or black with the anterior half yellow, the basal 

 portion whitish, and, like all of the group, flat and grooved. The 

 sides and rump a little more yellowish ; the belly, chest, and 

 throat whitish, with stiff white hairs ; the under fur short and 

 soft, of a dark and ashy brown, only slightly lighter on the sides, 

 and ashy on the belly ; the head is blackish, pencilled with light 

 brown, and ashy on the sides of the face ; the ears brown (in one 

 yellow) without, yellowish within, clothed with very short soft 

 hair ; the tail dark brown above, whitish below, sparingly clothed 

 with short adpressed hair, scaly, and becoming bare towards the 

 tip ; feet ashy white. 



