EXISTING SPECIES OF THE GENUS PHASCOLOMYS 
3. Phascolomys latifrons, Owen. Characterized by the soft 
silky fur, hairy rhinarium, and prominent post-orbital 
processes. 
Habitat, South Australia. 
Type in the Museum of the Eoyal College of Surgeons. 
4. Phascolomys tasmaniensis, sp. n. Size medium, inter- 
mediate in this respect between Ph. mitchelli and Ph. 
ursinus. Total length of the head and body 910 mm. 
Except in size it agrees closely in external form with 
Ph. mitchelli. Colour grizzled grey. Underfur fairly 
abundant, especially on the anterior part of the body. 
Hairs within the ear light coloured. 
Basal length of skull,* 141 mm. ; greatest width, 116 mm. 
Type (male) in National Museum, Melbourne. 
Specimens vary somewhat in size, the smallest mature 
female in our possession having a total length of 
780 mm., the largest female measuring 910 mm. 
One male measures 878, and a second (the type) 910 
mm., which is probably about the maximum size of 
the male fprm, the female reaching a length of 
950 mm. 
The variation in colour is very considerable, from grizzled 
grey to black. In melanistic specimens the distal 
half of the long hairs is black, the proximal half dark- 
brown; the underfur is also dark-brown, but it is 
completely, or almost completely, hidden from sight 
by the black tips of the abundant long hairs. The 
hairs within the ear are dark-brown in colour. The 
general colour of the majority of specimens is grizzled- 
grey, with, at times, brownish or russet tinged areas. 
The grizzled appearance is due to the fact that the 
majority of the hairs are tipped with, white, and these 
are interspersed with long, coarse, dark-tipped hairs, 
varying in number in different parts. They are fre- 
quently abundant enough to give a general dark colour 
to certain areas, such as the middle line of the back. 
The underfur appears to be always noticeably thicker on 
the anterior part of the body, especially in "the shoulder 
region. 
In all specimens, excepting melanistic ones, the hairs 
within the ear are always light-coloured, sometimes 
almost white. The chin is brown, throat and chest 
uniformly light-coloured. There is considerable varia- 
tion in the coarseness of the hair which is not generally 
so harsh as in Ph. mitchelli. 
h or skull measurements of the type specimen, see Table 4, specimen No. 3. 
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