Habitat, Chatham Island, Galapagos Archipelago, Pacific Ocean, (October.)
This species is less than Mus Rattus. The upper parts of the body have a slightly variegated appearance.
The skull of Mus Galapagoensis (Plate 33, fig. 8, a,) is rather smaller than that of M. Rattus, the nasal portion is proportionately longer, the cranial shorter, and the interparietal bone is smaller, especially in antero-posterior extent; its length is 15 lines, and its breadth is 8⅛ lines. The lower jaw is figured in Plate 34, fig. 14, a. Fig. 8, b, of Plate 33, represents the molars of the upper jaw, and fig. 8, c, those of the lower jaw.
“This mouse or rat is abundant in Chatham Island, one of the Galapagos Archipelago. I could not find it on any other island of the group. It frequents the bushes, which sparingly cover the rugged streams of basaltic lava, near the coast, where there is no fresh water, and where the land is extremely sterile.”—D.
27. Mus Fuscipes.
Plate XXV.
M. suprà fusco-nigrescens, subtùs griseus; pedibus fuscis; auribus mediocribus, caudâ, quoad longitudinem, caput corpusque ferè æquante: vellere longissimo, molli.
Description.—Form stout; ears moderate; tail equal to the body in length; tarsi moderate; fur very long. General tint of the upper part and sides of the head and body blackish brown with an admixture of gray; of the under parts grayish white; feet brown, the hairs grayish at the tip: tail black and but sparingly clothed with short bristly hairs: ears rather sparingly clothed with hairs, which are for the most part of a brownish gray colour. The ordinary fur of the back is about ¾ of an inch in length and very soft—of a deep gray colour, broadly annulated with brownish yellow near the tip and blackish at the tip: the longer hairs which are black, measure upwards of 1¼ inches in length. The upper incisors are of an orange colour and the lower are black.
| In. | Lines. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | from nose to root of tail | 6 | 6 |
| of tail | 4 | 3 | |
| from nose to ear | 1 | 6 | |
| of ear | 0 | 6½ | |
| of tarsus (claws included) | 1 | 1 |
Habitat, Australia, King George’s Sound, (March.)
Mammalia not belonging to the order Marsupiata are rare in the Continent of Australia. Besides the Dog, we are acquainted with none excepting a few species of Rodents, and these all belong to the family Muridæ.