OCR Text |
Show 1897.] ON MAMMALS FROM NORTH AUSTRALIA. 317 he adds that " its diphycercal (or perhaps heterocercal) condition is also common to many groups. Well, I have never seen a " heterocercal" Palceospondylus in spite of the many speciuiens with well-preserved tails which have come under m y observation. Nor have I, although I must have examined nearly two hundred examples of the little creature in question, many of them in a much better state of preservation than the one which is the special subject of this paper, ever seen anything like the shadowy furrows interpreted by Dr. Dean as pectoral fin-rays. Therefore I must, in conclusion, state m y belief that the examination of this specimen leaves the question of the affinities of Palceospondylus precisely where it was after I had written m y last paper on the subject. M y warmest thanks are, however, due to Dr. Bashford Dean for his kindness and generosity in sending his specimen again across the Atlantic for re-examination by British palaeichthyologists. 2. On a Collection of Mammals from North and North-west Australia. By R. C O L L E T T. [Received February 10, 1897.] (Plate XXIII.) Mr. Knut Dahl, a young naturalist, returned to Norway in May 1896, after spending three years, from 1893 to 1896, in South Africa and Australia for the purpose of collecting zoological specimens for the University of Christiania. In June 1894 he arrived at Port Darwin, in North Australia, and at once commenced his researches in the inner districts of Arnhem Land. H e subsequently visited Victoria River (south of Arnhem Land), and finally remained at Roebuck Bay, Northwest Australia, from October 1895 to February 1896, where he likewise obtained interesting collections. H e collected altogether examples of 34 species of Mammals, 31 of which may be identified. Besides this, several others were observed without being procured. Two of the species of which specimens were brought home I consider new to science (Pseudochirus clahlll and Sminthopsis nitela),and several of the others are rare and seldom met with in collections. I shall therefore append a short account of the Mammals which have been brought home and which are all preserved in the Zoological Museum at Christiania, and add to it a short description of the most important of the places visited, together with their peculiarities, from the reports I have received of them from Mr. Dahl. I owe m y thanks to m y friend Mr. Oldfield Thomas for having assisted m e in determining some of the more doubtful specimens. Characteristic of the whole of Arnhem Land is a mighty forest, which more or less covers the entire country. Port Darwin, the first locality visited, is characterized by flat, |