934 ROBERT COLLETT, 



A. Coomoüboolaroo, Jan. 1884 (skin with skull). 



B. Female. Rockhampton, Dec. 1881 (skin with skull). 



C. Male. Rockhampton, Dec. 1881 (skin with skull). 



Ä. pygmaea is common in the neighbourhood of Rockhampton, 

 and speeimens were continually seen. The two mature specimens, (B 

 and C) arrived in spirit; the pouch of the female contained five young, 

 having a length of about 8 mm , and were probably newly born, as 

 the Position of the eye in as yet barely indicated. 



In its colouring the two old individuals entirely agree. Above, 

 they are a strong reddish grey , and the tone is light on the whole. 

 Below, the female is slightly yellowish, the male white. 



A, the youngest individual , is darker above ; it has the same 

 greyish brown huc, as in Gould's picture in Mamm. of Australia, 

 (pl. II). The longer hairs on the tail in this individual are much 

 shorter, than in the two fullgrown ones. 



The skull: 



The skull of Acröbata is characteristic on account of the capacious 

 and arched brain case, which only exhibits faiut traces of crests. The 

 zygomatic arch is excessively slender, and most of the bones of the 

 head are thin, and semi-transparent. 



The foramina palatina extend forwards to the hindermost pre- 

 molar. 



Length of skull. A. 18 mm, B. 20 mm, C. 20,5 mm 



Width „ 11,5 „ „ 13,5 „ „ 13,5 „ 



The teeth. The dentition is, in the present individuals, normal: 

 « f > c 1, i? I, m I (36). 



The construction of the teeth was first described by Waterhouse 

 in: Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1838, p. 152. In the upper jaw the two 

 central incisors are comparatively short, and do not attain the length 

 of the canine; i2 and is are low, and have flat crowns. The cauine 

 is long and curved, and is the longest tooth in the jaw. Of the pre- 

 molars, which, like the molars, are sharply poiuted, j>2 is a trifle 

 longer than the rest; mi and m'^ are about equal in size, m^ some- 

 what smaller. 



In the lower jaw, which in several respects reminds one of the 

 jaw in certain Soricidae, the elongated incisor is almost horizontal, 

 and has but a slight curve upwards. The canine is flat and low, 

 quite likc^i; together with the incisors, these three teeth form an 

 unbroken series. The two hindermost premolars are comparatively 

 long, have each two cusps, of which the foremost is elongated (higher 



