Identities of the rodents (Muridae) listed in T. L. Mitchell's "Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia, with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales" (1st ed., 1838; 2nd ed., 1839).

Abstract

Mitchell applied four names to the rodents collected during his exploration of New South Wales and Victoria in 1831-36. They are "Dipus Mitchellii. Ogilby [Dipus mitchellii Ogilby, 1838]", "Conilurus constructor. Ogilby [Conilurus constructor (Ogilby, 1837))", "Mus Platurus Mitch. [Mus platurus Mitchell, 1838]" and "Mus Hovellii. Mitch. [Mus hovellii Mitchell, 1838] ". M. platurus Mitchell and M. hovellii Mitchell are nomina nuda. The whereabouts of the specimens are unknown. One is the holotype of Notomys mitchellii (Ogilby, 1838). The identities of the others are in doubt, but Conilurus albipes (Lichtenstein, 1829), Leporillus conditor (Sturt, 1848) and Leporillus apicalis (Gould, 1853) may all be represented in Mitchell's collec tion. The original descriptions of D. mitchellii Ogilby and C. constructor (Ogilby) are in abstracts of a paper read to the Linnean Society of London on December 5th, 1837. A lectotype is designated for Conylurus constructor Ogilby, 1837 and for Conilurus constructor Ogilby, 1838. The former name is an unused one and l will be making an application to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature asking that the name be suppressed. The publication date of 1829 attributed here to Hapalotis albipes Lichtenstein is derived from external evidence. The evidence for Leporillus apicalis being a stick-nest builder is inconclusive, but it probably has that habit. Conilurus albipes is apparently extinct. Notomys mitchellii still occurs in northwestern Victoria. Leporillus apicalis may be extant in remote areas of the continent. Leporillus conditor presumably continues to survive on Franklin Island, off the South Australian coast. It may also be extant on the Australian mainland.