hitherto referred to Coiiilurii.^. 83 



Couilnrun hirsnlus wsis noted wIilmi I described tlio f )nnor, 

 I'lif I did not tliL'ii cany the iiivestigation.s a.s far as I .s!ioulJ 

 have (h)iie. 



\\y this character, tlicn, Cuni/unis uji/'calis and )nurliiu.<i aro 

 at once sepaiuble from all the other rat-footed members of 

 tlie group, and are brnuf^lit into tlie neighbourhood of true 

 A/ii,i, to which, through M. lineolatusj they arc very closely 

 allied. 



Indeed it might be thought that they should actually be 

 referred to Mus ; but as it is an advantage to separate from 

 that protean genus as many species as possible, I would 

 consider the long cars of these two species as indicating 

 generic distinction (as has always liitherto been done), and 

 would propose for them the special name of Leporillus. 



'J'hen among the species witli throe internal cusps to the 

 molars I find two types of skull-structure. In one group, 

 consisting of Conilurus albipes and penicillatus, the skull is 

 highly modified in shape, as has been describ^jtl by previous 

 writers, while in the other, to which the species hirsiUus, 

 macrarnSj peduncuhitus^ and argurus belong, it is very much 

 as in ordinary rats. For this latter group 1 would suggest 

 the name of Ammomys. 



These coucludions may be tabulated as follows : — 



I. NOTOAtVS. Type. 



Notovii/s, Less. N. Tabl. It. A., Mamm. 



p. liii) (1842) N. Mitchelli, Ogilb. 



PodanDumlus, Waite, Proc. Koy. Soc. \'\c- 



toria, X. p. 1 17 (1898) N. lonfficaudattis, Gould. 



Thi/ltirotm/s, Waite, t. c. p. 121 (1898) (nee 



]>lyth, 1841 ) N. cervinus, Gould. 



Ascophafi/n.r, Waite, Ann. & Mag. Nat. 



lll.t. ( /") V. p. 223 (19U0) N. cervinus, Gould. 



Teeth ])ractically as in Mas; no po.stero-intornal cusp on 

 the molars, along the inner edge of whose series there are 

 therefore only G-7 cusps. Skull considerably modified ; ante- 

 rior edge of zygoma-root deeply concave. Hind feet length- 

 ened, their pads reduced in number to three or four, usually 

 three. 



{Species: JS. Mitchelli^ cervinus, longicaudatus, and Richard- 

 son i. 



II. Leporillus. 



Genus novum ^yP'' • ^ • '^p'<'"li'^, Gould. 



Molars, as in Conilurus^ without postero-intcrnal cusps. 



