18G7.] DR. J. MURIE ON PHASCOLOMYS PLATYRHINUS. 790 



latifrons, it nevertheless has sufficed, through Mr. Bartlett's skill in 

 taxidermy, for a mounted skin to be preparfd 



The skull, the skeleton, and the skin of this large Wombat as T 

 s^iall hereafter point out, correspond in all essentials to wlTat o'n the 

 former occasion was led to regard as Phascolo.nys platyrhiZ. 



But, before entering into a consideration of the differentiation nre 

 of"womb ^iT^ and appendicular skeleton of the existing spe'ces 

 ot Wombat, I deem it necessary to revert to some of my former 

 statements, and to append some fresh information concSnin/The 

 ostensible relation between the skins and crania of the three species! 



Exterior Aspect. 



■ Under the head of colour and general external appearance I shall 



chiefly confine my remarks to those distinguishing the Platyrhine 



pedesTi^S" T'^"'^' '^^ ')^, Hairyfnosed Sr Broadionled 

 species (i>. latifrons) is not so readily confounded with either of the 

 hrst-ment.oned ones as those two are between themselves. 



1 he accompanying lithograph (PI. XXXV.) of the large specimen 

 in question from Sydney and another, smaller, browner-colouLTni- 

 mal conveys a tolerable good idea of P. platyrhinus, at leas of Ue 

 more distinguishing features of the species. 'L, large anima is s n 



posjss an intermediate gradation of colour between^hatTfomeZ 

 termed the " pale" and "brown" varieties. Thus, while more iSv 

 approaching the colour of the "big yellow fellov^ " of tTe Aust 1 



P Lash ' "P°" '^' ^''''' ^ P^'*'^' ^^"^"""'^ t« ^^- G'-ay's 



As the illustration shows, the limbs and sides of the body in it are 



more or less of a yellowish (isabelline) colour, which toward^ the back 



assumes a darker and browner shade. The nape of the neck as 



darkest the hairs there being more tipped with black, and, as in it 

 which I here give as an example of the brown variety , the med a, 

 me of the back exhibits a continuation of the dark colVur backwaSs 

 to tnc lump. 



The three varieties of P. platyrhinus respectively denominated hv 

 me the "pale," the "brown," and the "black" wLld seemfthere^ 

 ore, in this later-acquired specimen to be further proved to graduate 

 the one into the other-that is to say, if the living animfl in U e 

 Society s Gardens, which Mr. Gould has named P^. niger, should 

 as I suppose, turn out to be only a black variety of P. platyrhinus 

 —a tact yet to be ascertained by an examination of its skeleton 



1 find, moreover, that in each of the three species of living Wom- 

 bat there ,s a certain tendency to variation in the shade of colour As 

 regards the P atyrhine Wombat, I have already mentioned this, and 

 shall only add that there is a tiny young one in the British M, eurn 

 of a perfect (isabelhne) yellow tint. Of the specimens of Commo^ 



* Mammals of Australia, 1863, vol. i. text, and plates 57. 58 

 t Annals and Magazine of Nat. Hist. 18G3, vol. xi. p. 457. ' 



