Mesembriomys gouldii (Gray 1843)

[Mesembriomys] gouldii (Gray 1843), List Specimens Mamm. Coll. Brit. Mus .: 116.

Type Locality: Australia, Northern Territory, Port Essington; see details in Mahoney and Richardson (1988:163).

Vernacular Names: Black-footed Mesembriomys.

Synonyms: Mesembriomys hirsutus (Gould 1842); Mesembriomys melvillensis Hayman 1936; Mesembriomys rattoides Thomas 1924 .

Distribution: Australia; N Western Australia, N Northern Territory, N Queensland, Melville Isl, and Bathurst Isl (Friend, 1991; Watts and Aslin, 1981).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Analyses of chromosomal and electrophoretic data (Baverstock et al., 1977 a, c, 1981, 1983 b) as well as phallic and dental morphology (Lidicker and Brylski, 1987; Misonne, 1969) indicated M. gouldii is phylogenetically most closely related to species of Conilurus . Reviewed by Watts and Aslin (1981) and Friend and Calaby (1995).