M(iiniH(iK< Jioin the Aitstrallan Ucjt'oii. W.W 



It i.s a curious tact tliat botli iti Piinj/nroid's and Ant- 

 echiuonit/s, genera in wliicli the hullii! are j^reatly developed, 

 the male has di-cidedly hirger l)ulhe than the female. 

 AVhether there is any adaptive reason for this or whether 

 it is that the male leads the way in the development ot 

 specialized characters it is not easy to say. 



Antechinomys Spencerl, sp. n. 



A sandy-coloured species with larpjer ears and much lar^^^er 

 l)UiIai than A. Janujer. Size avera^^ing slightly larger than in 

 A. laniger. Fur long, soft and fine ; hairs of back about 

 9-10 mm. in length. General colour dull sandy, the hairs 

 slaty for their basal three fifths, with a buffy subterminal 

 ring and a brown or blackish tip. Under surface white, the 

 hairs slaty for their basal third. Head paler than back. 

 Ears very large, their short tine hairs pale butfy on the pro- 

 ectote, whitish on the metentote. Hands and feet of the same 

 structure as in A. laniger, their upper surfaces wiiite or 

 creamy white. Tail long, more heavily tufted than in 

 A. laniger, pale buffy on the sides, mixed with brown on the 

 lop and below, the tuft dark seal-brown, its hairs 7-8 mm. in 

 length. 



trfkull witli a longer slenderer muzzle than tliat of A. lanujer. 

 Bulla3 in female distinctly larger than those of the male type 

 of A. laniger, and in the male immensely larger, their height 

 (measured vertically downwards from the glenoid surface) 

 4*.'> mm. in the male A. iSjjenceri, 4*1 in the female and 3'5 

 in the male A. laniger. 



'J'eeth as in A. laniger. 



Dimensions of the type (measured on the spirit-specimen) : — 



Head and body 87 ; tail 183; hind foot 82"3 ; ear 23. 



Skull: greatest length 29; basal length 26*7; greatest 

 breadth 15'7; muzzle to orbit 12'6 *; interorbital l)readth 5"6 ; 

 palate length 15"3 ; horizontal length of bulla taken parallel 

 to the middle line 7-5 f; combined length of three anterior 

 molariform teeth 4"'J. 



J Jab. Charlotte Waters, Central Australia. 



Tgpe. Female in spirit. B.M. no. 97. 1 1. 3. 12. Collected 

 on the Horn Expedition by Prof. Baldwin Spencer. 



In the * Ke|)ort of the Horn Expedition 'J Prof. Spencer 

 referred the Central-Australian Antechinomys to A. laniger, 

 but the recent donation by Mr. 11. T. Maurice of a j)air 



* In A. litnif/er 11. 



t In the nmlc 8'.'> ; in A. hiniijcr (J) G"6. 



t Mainni. p. 40 (^l>*U()t. 



