A reidentification of the Australian Muridae in the Leiden Museum listed by F. A. Jentink in 1887 and 1888

A number of Australian rodent specimens are listed by Jentink (1887; 1888) in two catalogues of the mammals in the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, Netherlands. The 1887 catalogue deals with the osteological material; in it, thirteen Australian rodent skulls are recorded. The 1888 catalogue contains the mounted and spirit specimens; the Australian rodents are represented here by thirty-three mounted specimens, of which ten have the skulls listed in the 1887 catalogue, and three spirit specimens with the skulls not extracted. The mode of preservation of a further specimen, now a mounted skin, is not indicated. It too had the skull in place; therefore, there are three skulls for which no skins are listed. Many of these specimens were identified by Jentink on external characters alone, while his identifications were made at a time when the diversity of the Australian rodent fauna was not fully appreciated. Again, specimens are listed for Conilurus albipes (Lichtenstein) and topotypical Notomys longicaudatus (Gould), two poorly known forms which are apparently now extinct and for which little material is preserved in collections elsewhere; if their identities have been correctly recorded by Jentink, a study of his specimens would provide additional information about these forms. For such reasons, confirmation of the accuracy of Jentink's identifications is desirable. Jentink's specimens were examined by me at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden in January, 1966 and are reidentified below. The skins and skulls of most individuals were available for examination; however, the skulls are extensively damaged, with the exception of those of the three spirit specimens 1), and have most or all of the posterior half of the cranium missing while the skins have suffered to a greater or lesser extent from