HYDROMYS FULVOLAVATUS, Gould,
Fulvous Beaver-Rat.
I possess specimens of this animal from three different localities—some obtained near the River Murray by E. J. Eyre, Esq., now Lieut.-Governor of New Zealand, others procured at Lake Albert by Mr. Strange, and others shot by myself in the pools of the upper part of the River Torrens, all of which closely resemble each other, but differ very considerably from either of the foregoing species; I have therefore been induced to regard them as specifically distinct. To the Western Australian animal (H. fuliginosus) they are allied in the extreme tip of the tail only being white, and to H. chrysogaster in the colouring of the under surface, but in no other respect so far as colour goes. As the specific name implies, the whole of the body is washed with golden orange, a tint only relieved by the interspersion of numerous black hairs over the upper surface, giving that part a darker hue, without any decided line of demarcation separating the colouring of the upper from that of the under surface. The habits and economy of this species offer a close resemblance to those of H. chrysogaster. I usually found it on the muddy banks of the water-holes of South Australia, where, like the European Water Vole, it lived upon vegetables, mollusks, and other lacustrine animals common to such situations.
The feet of this species are somewhat darker coloured than those of H. chrysogaster. The general hue of the fur orange buff, but the numerous black hairs which are dispersed over the head and upper surface give those parts a dusky hue; the whiskers, which in the other species are entirely black, are here mingled black and white; outer surface of the limbs dark brown; upper surface of hinder feet pale brown, deepening into a darker hue on the toes; nails white; tail black, except at the extreme tip, which is white.
The figures are rather under the natural size.
