Land and Fresh-water Vertebrates in Victoria. 35 



indicated, except that he combines in one the Mallee and the 

 Murray Plains. 



While Victoria thus possesses provinces which are sufficiently 

 distinct from one another in their geographical and botanical 

 features, these are in most instances physically continuous 

 with adjacent regions of the neighbouring colonies. Thus the 

 northern plains form but a part of the great Central Murray 

 basin, the Mallee and Western District are only separated by an 

 imaginary meridian from South Australia, and the Alpine and 

 East Gippsland regions merge in the mountain and coast regions 

 of New South Wales, and thus form an extension of the eastern 

 strip of our continent. 



We have no such complete and definite information as to the 

 local distribution of animals as the Baron has secured of that of 

 the plants. Animals, especially the higher forms, are more difficult 

 to obtain and to preserve than plants. In this regard the need 

 is felt of local museums in each of the provinces in which 

 examples from as many localities as possible might be preserved 

 and be available for the aid of students of distribution and 

 variation. This is especially desirable in the case of the Verte- 

 brates, which are so liable to compulsory migrations or local 

 extinction on the advent of civilised man. 



In this paper I have attempted, as far as is possible in the 

 present state of our knowledge, to tabulate the distribution of 

 Victorian A^ertebrates, omitting birds, and to discuss the sum- 

 marised facts. I have made use of all precise records in Gould, 

 the British Museum catalogues, the Victorian National Museum, 

 and Professor McCoy's " Prodromus of Victorian Zoology," and 

 of a large number of private and persona] collections. Mr. D. 

 LeSouef gave me very valuable information on the distribution 

 of the mammals. For purposes of comparison the distribution 

 of Tasmanian forms is included as far as known with precision. 

 In the Mammalian table, " T," in the first column, stands for 

 Tasmania, the other columns giving the distribution in Victoria. 



