1885.] MR. R. COLT.ETT ON ECHIDNA ACANTHION. 151 



E. acanthion is no doubt distributed over the whole of Central 

 Queensland, at least in the eastern parts of that district, and in 

 North Queensland as far up as to 18° S. lat. ; but it also occurs, 

 according to Capt. Armit's supposition, over the whole of Cape 

 York peninsula. 



Thus the remarkable genus Echidna extends from Tasmania 

 {E. setosa, Cuv.), throughout the whole eastern part of Australia, 

 from Victoria and New South Wales to South Queensland, occurring 

 also in West Australia {E. aculeafa, Shaw), and tlirough Central and 

 North Queensland up to Torres Strait (E. acanthion) ; furthermore 

 it occurs in the south-eastern part of New Guinea (JS". lawesi, Rams.). 

 Besides these, the northern parts of New Guinea is inhabited by a 

 fifth species, the rather aberrant form Proechidna bruijni (Peters 

 and Doria) \ E. acanthion is much nearer related to the E. lawesi 

 from New Guinea, than it is to the South-Australian E. aculeata. 



Specimens examined.- — Tlie specimens collected by Dr. Lumholtz, 

 and preserved in the University Museum of Christiania, are the 

 following ^ : — 



Total length. 



1 . c5' j'lii 36.5 millim. 



2. $ , 425 „ 



3. d 448 „ 



4. ? 420 „ 



5. J 415 „ 



6. 2 4 



^ 9 

 HO 



7. $ about 4 10 „ 



8. 9 about 405 „ 



9. 2 448 „ 



No. 1 is a young male, caught at Gracemere near Rockhampton in 

 July 1881. Tlie others were caught at Coomooboolaroo, 80 miles W. 

 of Rockhampton ; Nos. 2-8 in February 1884 ; No. 9, a female with 

 fully developed mammse, in the beginning of March the same year. 



Sex. Of the nine specimens, three are males, five females ; in one 

 specimen (No. 4) of which the skeleton only is preserved, the sex 

 cannot with certainty be decided, but it would seem to have been a 

 female. 



1 cannot detect any character by which the sexes can be distin- 

 guished externally, with the exception of the sharp, but short spur 

 on the inside of the hind heel of the male ; this sf)ur has already 

 appeared in the young male (No. 1), the skeleton of which is far 

 from being perfectly ossified. 



As to the skull it may be noted that the male (No. 5) has a 

 pro])ortionally shorter snout than the female (No. 9), but its skull is, 

 on tiie other hand, broader and higher behind {cf. figs. 3 & 4, 



^ Tacl/yfftossiis hrttijnii, Peters and Doria, 1876 ; Accmihogloss^ts bniJjnii, 

 P. Gevvais, 1877 ; froechidna hnnjnii, Murie, 1878; and Brvijnia iridaciyla, 

 Dubois, 1872. 



^ At present there are stuffed specimens of the following: — No. 1, No. ,'j, and 

 No. 9 ; and mounted skeletons of No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. 



