1872.] 



ON THE BROAD-HEADED WOMBAT. 



497 



near Sima- Gooding, at about 7000 feet alt., and was of great interest 

 as settling the question of its exact habitat. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. Notes on a Specimen of the Broad-headed Wombat {Phas- 

 colomys latifrons) . By Alex.Macalister, M.B. (T.C.D.), 

 Professor of Zoology in the University of Dublin, Pre- 

 sident of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland. 



[Received February 23, 1872.] 



Some time ago I obtained from Mr. Gerrard, for the Dublin Uni- 

 versity Museum, a skin of this rare Wombat ; and as there was a 

 skull attached to it I caused it to be removed, and have made on the 

 specimen the following notes. It was a young male ; and its mea- 

 surements, as compared with the two other recorded examples of 

 the species, are as follows : — 



The name P. latifrons was based by Professor Owen in 1845 on a 

 skull of a Wombat which he described (P. Z. S. 1845, p. 82). 

 Another individual was afterwards described by Mr. Angas in 1861. 

 The exact identity of the species, however, has been a matter of 

 difference of opinion, Mr. Gould, Dr. Gray, and Dr. Murie havin°- 

 expressed varying views on the subject. As Dr. Murie says con- 

 cerning this species (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 839) that "it at present 

 remains uncertain whether the P. latifrons of Owen is yet deter- 

 mined—that is, as regards the identification of the skin or living 

 animal with the skull first described and demonstrated by him to 

 belong to a distinct species," I have therefore thought that the 

 facts derived from my specimen might be interesting as a con- 

 tribution towards the final settlement of the question of specific 

 identity. 



Dr. Murie (loc. cit.) describes the typical P. latifrons (Gould's 

 P. lasiorhinus) as being of a lightish grev tinged with brown. My 

 specimen is of a rather dark mottled grey ; not like the light sandy 

 buff of Mr. Gould's P. lasiorhinus, or the nearly uniform blackish 

 brown of Dr. Gray's P. angasii. In my individual the roots of most 

 of the hairs are of a dark brown, the extremities whiter or grey, the 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1872, No. XXXII. 



