Mem. Nat. Mus. Vict., X, 1936. 
MURIDAE RECORDED FROM VICTORIA. 
By C. W. Brazenor, 
Mammalogist, National Museum. 
(Plates XIII-XVI.) 
Australian rats and mice, as a group, received little atten- 
tion from Australian systematists till recent years. Few 
examples of early collecting are preserved in this country. 
Almost all the work of classification and description lias been 
carried out in Europe, and based upon a few specimens; some 
of these descriptions are broad enough, in the light of modern 
specialization, to apply to more than one species, and without 
early material from typical collecting grounds the task of 
identifying species already described, and of describing new, 
must necessarily be difficult and doubtful. 
The National Museum possesses good series of Victorian 
forms, taken in 1857 by the Polish naturalist, W. Blandowski, 
who collected in north-western Victoria near the junction of 
the Murray and Darling Rivers. Unfortunately when Blan- 
dowski left the State he took with him all notes and data relat- 
ing to the collection. 
Since then our murine fauna has been greatly depleted in 
species and individuals. Though destruction of habitat by 
agriculture, bush fires, etc., is largely responsible, the intro- 
duction of foreign members of the same family is also a con- 
tributing factor. European rats have spread throughout the 
State and, because of their greater pugnaciousness and fer- 
tility, have driven out and replaced native species in many 
districts. This usurpation will no doubt continue until all 
native species are extinct, except possibly the Water Rat, 
whose size and strength may allow it to hold its own. 
Many Australian rats and mice are highly specialized and 
as peculiarly Australian as any marsupial. Amongst these 
the Water Rat may, perhaps, be placed first, though the Rabbit 
Rats and the Jerboa Mice have almost equal claims. Its fine, 
closely-furred pelt of comparatively large size has lately been 
in demand as a commercial fur-skin, and many thousands of 
these rats are trapped yearly ; though still common in many 
places the animal cannot long survive such systematic deple- 
tion of its numbers. Most of our marsupial mammals are 
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