OCR Text |
Show 1903.] MAMMALS FROM BRITISH NEW GUINEA. 201 of about equal extent; interorbital region broad, scarcely concave, its edges thickened, but without distinct beading; palatal foramina minute, narrow, of about the same length as m.2; anterior palate concave mesially, with swollen ridges laterally ; posterior palate extending behind m.3 a distance equal to the length of m.2 Bulla? small, smooth. Dimensions of the type, measured in skin :- Head and body 300 mm.; tail 320; hind foot (s. u.) 60; ear 24. Skull-greatest length 68 m m . ; basilar length 65 ; greatest breadth 35; nasals 27 x 8-6 ; interorbital breadth 11"3 ; interparietal 8'3xl4-5; zygomatic plate 9*2; palate, length 33; diastema 20 ; palatal foramina 3"7x3-l; length of upper molar series 10-2, breadth of m.1 3*1. Upper incisors, combined breadth 4-7, depth 4-9 ; lower incisors, combined breadth 2-4, depth 5*3. Hab. Avera, Aroa River, British N e w Guinea. Type. Male. B.M. No. 3.12.1.10. Collected by A. S. Meek. Two specimens, male and female. So like was this Rat to the large Papuan Uromys, of which Mr. Meek also obtained examples, that it was taken for the same species until a closer examination showed its many peculiar characters. Externally, indeed, it could only be distinguished by its rather darker colour and its slightly hairy tail. It would be of interest to find out what this Rat fed on to account for the peculiarities of its dentition. Perhaps hard-shelled nuts, such as cocoanuts, might demand these powerful cutting-incisors, while the small and delicate molars would be sufficient to deal with the soft contents. PERAMELES ORNATA, sp. n. A small species with prominent black markings. Essential characters all very much as in P. longicauda Peters & Doria *, to whose immediate neighbourhood it is brought by all the characters used in the synopses of species, both external and cranial, of the ' Catalogue of Marsupials' f. Coloration, however, quite unique, for with a pale brown general body-colour there is a prominent deep black mesial line running from the muzzle down the back to the base of the tail; this line commences betwTeen the eyes, broadens to about half an inch on the crown and nape, narrows on the anterior back, and broadens again on the rump. Through each eye there is also a black streak, starting at the root of the whiskers, and running to the base of the ears; between the median and lateral dark bands the head is grizzled whitish. Under surface dull creamy whitish throughout, not sharply defined laterally. R u m p with an additional black line on each side, running downwards parallel to the mesial line and passing on to the back of the hind legs. Ears of medium length, rounded, dark brown, a small blackish mark behind their posterior bases; metatragus short, triangular. Arms * Ann. Mus. Genov. xvi. p. 672 (1831). f P. 229 (1888). |