MURIDAE RECORDED FROM VICTORIA 
69 
Rattas greyi ravas subsp. nov. 
Size and general colouration similar to those of both greyi and assimilis. 
Dorsal fur basally grey, tipped with brown, the grey showing through, and 
the whole modified by long black guard-hairs. Sides of body a little lighter, 
grading into greyish- white of ventral surface. Ventral hairs basally grey 
tipped with greyish-white. Head as body ; cheeks a little greyer. Mystical 
vibrissae long; black, a few tipped with silvery white. Ears larger than in 
greyi; dark-brown; almost naked on inner surface, sparsely clothed on outer 
surface with short, brown, adpressed hair. Tail longer than in greyi ; shorter 
than head and body ; uniform brown, sparsely clothed with stiff, short, brown 
hairs. Pes larger than in greyi] well clothed with white adpressed hair. 
Skull. — Indistinguishable from greyi, and smaller than, though otherwise 
similar to, assimilis. 
Teeth. — As in greyi] proportionally smaller than in assimilis. A posterior 
cusp is present on the lower molars of all three rats. 
Dimensions of Male. — Head and body, 163 mm. ; tail, 145 mm. ; hind foot, 
29 5 mm.; ear, 21 mm. 
Dimensions of Female. — Head and body, 148 mm. ; tail, 148 mm. ; hind 
foot, 29 mm.; ear, 21-5 mm. 
Dimensions of Skull. — Greatest length, 36- 5 mm. ; basal length, 31-5 mm. ; 
greatest breadth, 18-8 min.; nasals, 14 X 3 8 mm.; interorbital breadth, 
5- 2 mm.; palate length, 16 8 mm.; breadth inside M 2 , 4 mm.; breadth out- 
side M 2 , 8mm. ; palatal foramina, 7 3 mm. ; diastema, 1 0 mm. ; upper molars, 
6- 4 mm. 
Type Locality. — Portland, Victoria. 
Types in National Museum, Melbourne; <J,C759; 2 , C688. 
This eastern race of Grey’s Rat replaces assimilis in the 
south-western corner of Victoria, and is similar to that species 
in its habits and habitat. Its burrows may be found in scrub 
or in the more heavily-clothed, heath country, and its runs are 
not conspicuous. At present its only known habitat is the 
vicinity of Portland. 
Rattus lutreolus (Gray). 
Mus lutreola Gray, Append. Grey’s Travels, p. 409, 1841; Gray, Brit. 
Mus. Cat., p. Ill, 1843; Gould, Mamm. Aust., iii, pi. xi, 1863. 
Epimys lutreola Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (8), vi, p. 605, 1910. 
Rattus lutreola Wood Jones, Mamm. Sth. Aust., iii, p. 229, 1925. 
The Swamp Rat inhabits the continent of Australia from 
east to west, and there is some doubt whether the eastern 
form should be accorded full specific distinction from the 
western ( R . fucipes Waterhouse, 1840). 
Description of an Average Victorian Specimen, based on 
about Sixty Specimens. 
A thickly-built, sturdy little animal with short legs and a short tail. Fur 
long (18 mm.), and though not harsh yet distinctly crisp to the touch. General 
