Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2Grey, George
History
Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2
Grey, George
Natural history -- Australia -- Western Australia; Western Australia -- Discovery and exploration
Fur soft, brown, with scattered rather longer black tipped hairs, beneath
pale grey brown; the under fur lead coloured; whiskers black; ears
moderate, covered with short close-pressed hairs; tail elongate, brown;
cutting teeth pale yellow, compressed; body and head 3, tail 3 inches,
hind-feet 8-12. Inhabits South Australia. J. Gould, Esquire.
In examining the Geographical distribution of the Genera, as exhibited in
the foregoing table, as far as our present knowledge of these animals
extends we may state that the genera Choeropus, Acrobates, Petaurista,
Lagorchestes, Phascolarctos, Hapalotis, and Pseudomys, are peculiar to
New South Wales. The genus Petaurus is also found in New South Wales, but
not in the Island of Van Diemen's Land and the rest of the continent, but
one of the species living there is also said to be an inhabitant of
Norfolk Island, where it may probably have been introduced.
The species of the genera Petrogale and Bettongia are common to New South
Wales, South Australia, and the North-west Coast; but they are not found
in Van Diemen's Land, and the genus Myrmecobius appears to be peculiar to
Western Australia, for it is not by any means certain that the red
shrew-mouse discovered in Australia Felix by Sir T. Mitchell belongs to
this genus.
The Genera Thylacinus, Diabolus, and Dromicia, are peculiar to Van
Diemen's Land.
The species of the genera Dasyurus and Perameles are very abundant in Van
Diemen's Land, but they have also representatives which are found in New
Holland.
The species of the genera Nyctophilus, Phalangista, Hepoona, Phascogale,
Macropus, Halmaturus, Hypsiprymnus, and Hydromys, appear to be common to
all parts of the continent, and also to Van Diemen's Land.
The genera Echidna and Ornithorhynchus are found in New Holland and Van
Diemen's Land, but I have not heard of their having been discovered in
the Western or Southern parts of the continent of Australia.
There are some of the genera of the non-Marsupial animals, as Rhinolophus
and Pteropus, which are common to various parts of Australia and the
different parts of the Old World, and others, as Canis, Mus, Scotophilus,
and Molossus, which are common to it and to both Hemispheres. Two
Marsupial genera, Halmaturus and Perameles, have species found in New
Guinea, but most probably, when they have been more carefully examined,
they will be found to form a peculiar genus, allied to the Australian
animals, as is the case with the tree-kangaroos (Dendrolegus) and the
Phalangers (Cuscus) of that country. We have a specimen of the Halmaturus
in the British Museum, from the Leyden collection, but like many of the
specimens in that collection, where the zoological specimens are made
subservient to the anatomical predilections of the conservator, it has no
skull, and false claws, which renders it impossible for me to define its
characters. The tail has rings of scales under the hair, but this is also
the case with most Halmaturi.
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