ORDER CARNIVORA: CARNIVORES 211 



Brazenor (1934, pp. 159-160) records specimens from the follow- 

 ing localities in Victoria: Swan Island; Gippsland; Layer's Hill 

 in the Otway Forest; Olangolah, near Beech Forest, at the head 

 of the Gellibrand River. He also mentions a specimen, apparently 

 previously overlooked, from the "West Coast of Tasmania, 1872." 

 He writes (in litt., March 3, 1937) that the species "still survives 

 in the Otway Forest but not in any numbers." 



While-tailed Rat 



ZYZOMYS ARGURUS ARGURUS (Thomas) 



Mus argwrus Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, vol. 3, p. 433, 1889. 

 ("South Australia.") 



This South Australian rat is apparently known only from the 

 type specimen. 



The fur is crisp; general color above pale sandy rufous; ears 

 rounded, thinly covered with fine white hairs; muzzle and under 

 parts white, the line of demarcation on the sides not sharply defined ; 

 hands and feet pure white ; tail uniform white above and below, the 

 tip slightly penciled. Head and body, 83 mm.; tail, 101. (Thomas, 

 1889, pp. 433-435.) 



"Of this very distinct species there is no material available in 

 South Australia, which was the home of the type specimen. . . . 



"There seem to be no recent records of this remarkable little 

 rat, and no observations on its habits. Probably it is one of the 

 many lost species of which no specimens are preserved in our State 

 collections." (Jones, 1925, pp. 336-337.) 



A. S. Le Souef remarks (in litt., February 15, 1937) that these 

 native rats do not stand up to settlement or invasion of their habitat 

 by Rattus rattus. 



E. Le G. Troughton writes (in litt., April 16, 1937) that the lack 

 of records since the original description in 1889 supports Wood 

 Jones's conclusion that the species may be lost from the state. 



[According to L. Glauert (in litt., March 17, 1937) , the Western 

 Australian subspecies, Z. a. indutus (Thomas), is "not reduced in 

 numbers."] 



Order CARNIVORA: Carnivores 



Family CANIDAE: Wolves and Foxes 



The Canidae are nearly cosmopolitan, indigenous species being 

 found in all important land masses except Madagascar, the central 

 and eastern parts of the Malay Archipelago, New Zealand, and 



