OCR Text |
Show 126 ON RODENTS ETC. FROM DUKE-OF-YORK ISLAND. [Feb. 20, 5. CUSCUS ORIENTALIS. Didelphys orientalis, Pallas, Misc. Zool. p. 59. An adult female Cuscus in skin and a half-grown female in spirits are strikingly different in appearance ; but I cannot at present separate them from this very variable species. The former is of a dark sooty grey above, with an obscure dorsal streak; the fur is very close and woolly ; and the tips of the hairs have a bright silvery lustre. The latter (which measures, head and body, 8*80 inches, tail 7*80 inches) is bright shining rufous above, slightly washed with black, but with no definite dorsal streak ; lower parts and spot below ear light yellow. Both differ from the characters usual given of C. orientalis in having only two small incisors behind the large central lower pair, and in wanting the small extra premolar in the upper jaw. But, as Mr. Waterhouse has observed1, these small teeth are not to be trusted in this group. I find that a skull of C. ursinus in the British Museum has two small incisors on one side and three on the other; and of two skulls of C. celebensis, Gray, a male has one only in each ramus, while a female has one on the right and three on the left. In all other essential characters Mr. Brown's specimens agree with C. orientalis; and it must be left to future observatiou to show whether the peculiarity of their dentition is or is not constant. According to Lesson and Garnot this animal is termed Kapoune by the natives of N ew Ireland, with whom it is a favourite article of food2. 6. MACROPUS LUGENS, sp. n. (Plate XIX.) Muffle entirely naked, the bare space extending in a band over each nostril. Ears moderate, sparsely haired except near the base. Tail clad for the first three inches with short woolly hair, thence to the end scaly, nearly naked at the sides, more thickly clad above and below with short stiffish hairs. Fur moderately soft, not close-set, with no under-fur ; hair of occiput radiating from a point a little behind the ears, that of the nape directed backwards, that of the vertex forwards, forming a transverse crest where it meets the fur of the forehead and temples. Hair of breast radiating from each axilla, that of the throat and chin directed forwards. Upper parts almost uniform umber-brown, darkest on the back, the hairs unicolorous to the base, flanks and thighs lighter, feet darker brown. From the upper lip a broad but ill-defined brownish-white stripe passes to below the eye. Chin brownish black ; throat, breast, and belly pale isabelline. Approximate measurements (in skin) of an immature male :- in. Length of head and body 22*00 head 3.50 ear I75 tail 14-00 „ hind foot (without claw) 4-50 1 Nat. Hist, Mamm. i. p. 265. 2 Voy. de la Coquille, Zool. i. p. 158. |