OCR Text |
Show 1897.] FROM NORTH AUSTRALIA. 321 Fam. C A N I D JE. 9. CANIS DINGO, Blumenb., 1790. Canis dingo, Ogilby, Cat. Austral. Mamm. p. 123 (1892). N. Australia : Hermit Hill, Aug. 12th, 1894 (one specimen and one skull). Daly River, Aug. 1894 (one specimen). S. Alligator River, June 15th, 1895 (one specimen). Skin. The three specimens belong to the red variety. The size seems to be inferior to those from Queensland which are preserved in the Christiania Museum ; length of four skulls 183-190 mm. Hab. Only the red variety was seen in Arnhem Land; but black specimens were known by the natives. Fam. M u R i D cE. 10. CONILURUS PENICILLATUS (Gould), 1842. Conilurus penicillatus, Ogilby, Cat. Austral. Mamm. p. 117 (1892). N. Australia: Hermit Hill, Aug. 15th, 20th, 1894 (five specimens). Daly River, Oct. 1894 (three specimens). Adelaide River, Dec. 12th, 1894 (one specimen). Mary River, May 15th, 1895 (one specimen). Skin. There are ten specimens in all: two of the skins (Hermit Hill, Aug. 1894) have the tail white-tipped (length of white tip 26 mm.); in all the other specimens the tail is black throughout. In the single autumn specimen (Mary River, May 1895) the hairs on the tail are very short and adpressed. Skull. In a full-grown specimen, with worn teeth, the length of the skull is 44 mm., the breadth 23 mm. Foramen palatlnum reaching to or a little beyond the first molar. The anterior border of the os Interparletale forms a straight line, the posterior one a rounded one. Hab. Numerous all over Arnhem Land, and in great numbers on the rivers on the lowlands. Most of the specimens procured were taken from holes in the trees, but they were also seen close to and within the houses. Native name: Pelke. 11. CONILURUS BOWERI (Ramsay), 1886. ? FLapalotls macrura, Peters, Monatsb. Akad. Wissensch. Berlin, 1876, p. 355, pl. i. (1876). Hapalotis boweri, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 2nd ser. vol. i. p. 1153 (1886). Conilurus boweri, Ogilby, Cat. Austral. Mamm. p. 116 (1892). N. W. Australia : Roebuck Bay, Dec. 8th, 1895 (one specimen, a female). Roebuck Bay, Dec. 16th, 1895 (two half-grown young ones, in spirit). Skin. The specimen (a female) is not perfectly adult, the teeth being unworn and the posterior molars not yet fully developed. |