Zyzomys Thomas, 1909 . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 3:372.

TYPE SPECIES: Mus argurus Thomas, 1889 .

SYNONYMS: Laomys .

COMMENTS: Member of the Australian Old Endemics (Musser, 1981c:167) or Conilurini of Baverstock (1984) and Lee et al. (1981). Taxonomy of species appraised by Kitchener (1989). Chromosomal morphology distinct from other Australian murines (Baverstock et al., 1977c), but this result was not supported by electrophoretic data (Baverstock et al., 1981), and G-banding homologies suggested karyotype of Zyzomys "to be derived from the ancestral karyotype characterizing Conilurus, Mesembriomys, and Leggadina ” (Baverstock et al., 1983b). Molar traits resembled those characterizing Conilurus (Misonne, 1969), but phallic characters linked Zyzomys to Pseudomys and its close relatives (Lidicker and Brylski, 1987). Data from microcomplement fixation of albumin indicated Zyzomys belongs in a clade with Mesembriomys, Conilurus, Leporillus, and Melomys (Watts et al., 1992). External morphology of glans penis and spermatozoal structure reported by Breed, 1984), Breed and Sarafis, 1978; and Morrissey and Breed (1982). Mahoney and Richardson (1988) cataloged taxonomic, distributional, and biological references to some of the species.