114 nORN I'.XnODITION — STMMARY. 



ainoiiust IIk' i-n,n.no.s and in Conti'al Qnoonsland Aniont^^st tlio IJodonts eleven 

 species so f'ai" are determined, including' the introduced Afiis iin/sailiis. Only one 

 species Conilurus {Ilapalolis) luitcliclli is known from West Australia also. Two 

 species of j\Ius {M. i^-oi/Idi and M. .^vv)'/) are widely distributed Ra\-e on the west, 

 but the characteristic Rodents of the Centre are tliose belonging;' to the genus 

 Conilui'us (Hapalotis) which includes the jerboa-rats. One of these (C. pcduiuii' 

 /nfi/s) is kiK^wn as yet only fr'oiii the Higher Steppes, the othei' four a,re 

 char.icteristic of the eastern and centi'al parts of the interior. 



These rodents ha\o a i-eniarkaljje iial)it of travelling periodically in vast 

 hoi'd(>s. Tn the middle of l.S9-">, for e.\aiiipl(^, Mr. ]>yrne, writing from Charlotte 

 Waters, said, " The jerboa-like rodents are coining from the eastwards and they 

 almost amount to a plague here." Two months later scarcely one was to l)e se(^n. 

 This migration froi/i tlic Ea^t appears to show that. tJie (Vntre receives periodic 

 additions to its fauna dependent pi'imarily upon the season.s, and that in the case 

 of the rodents, as their distribution indicates, the immigration takes place from 

 the East. 



The most interesting foini — evidently rare, as only a single? immature specimen 

 was secured amongst the large number of rodents caught — is a species of Mas- 

 tacomys. The interest of this li(^s in the fact that the genus is represented l)y a 

 single species living in Tasmania and by a fossil foi'm from the AVcdlington Caves 

 in New South Wales. In the Centre it has only lieen found at Alice Springs 

 amongst tlie ranges. Evidently it represents an old form of llodent and is one of 

 th(^ very few animals which Tasmania and the Centre have in common Tn this 

 resjiect it stands in strong contrast to the characteristic rodents of tlu? genus 

 Conilurus, which is not lepresented in Tasmania, and may, like tlie Diprotodonts, 

 be regarded as having originated on the eastern side of the continent, whence they 

 have spread out westwards. 



The marsupials are represented by twenty-three species, which may be 

 divided into three groups : — 



1. A few species widely distributed o\er the continent. These include 

 Trichosurus vulpccida-, Sii/iiifliopsis ni/iri?in, S. cmssicniida/a, PcraJiic/cs ol'csn/a. 



'1. A larger number which are cliaracteristic of the inland parts of the eastern 

 divisions ((^ucH'nsland, New Soutli Wales and Victoria) and of South and AVest 

 Australia.. These include Macropiis ro/>itsf/ts, ]\[acropiis ri/fits, Pcfroi^a/e /a/fnil/s, 

 0//ji-//(>gi>/c liiuata, lAi;^(>rclicstcs coiispici7(i///s var. h'iihardfii, I^ctto)i;^ia Icsucuri, 



