Leggadina Thomas, 1910

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 600

Leggadina Thomas, 1910 . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 6:606.

TYPE SPECIES: Mus forresti Thomas, 1906 .

COMMENTS: Sometimes included in Pseudomys , but a distinctive genus that is a member of the Australian Old Endemics ( Musser, 1981 c:l 67), which includes the Conilurini, which is where Leggadina is usually placed ( Baverstock, 1984). Some species of Pseudomys , namely delicatulus and hermannsburgensis, are often included in Leggadina ( Lidicker and Brylski, 1987) but only forresti and lakedownensis belong there ( Mahoney and Posamentier, 1975; Mahoney and Richardson, 1988; Watts and Aslin, 1981). Data from microcomplement fixation of albumin indicates that L. forresti is so distinct from Pseudomys that it forms a separate clade that is also isolated from all the other Australian endemics ( Watts et al., 1992).

Morphology of the male reproductive tract, external anatomy of the glans penis, and spermatozoal structure documented in context of comparative study of Australian murines by Breed (1980, 1984, 1986), Morrissey and Breed (1982), and Lidicker and Brylski (1987). Biochemical and chromosomal data discussed by Baverstock et al. (1976 a, 1981, 1983b). Taxonomic, distributional, and biological references for species catalogued by Mahoney and Richardson (1988).