Pharotis imogene Thomas, 1914b

Parnaby, Harry E., Ingleby, Sandy & Divljan, Anja, 2017, Type Specimens of Non-fossil Mammals in the Australian Museum, Sydney, Records of the Australian Museum 69 (5), pp. 277-420 : 408-409

Pharotis imogene Thomas, 1914b

Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (ser. 8) 14: 382. (1 November, 1914).

Common name. New Guinea Big-eared Bat.

Current name. Pharotis imogene Thomas, 1914b ; following Simmons (2005).

Material. M.2561, adult female, body in alc., skull, Kamali, lower Kemp Welch River , Central Province, Papua New Guinea, collected by Dr L. Loria, November 1890 . Exchanged from BMNH and registered at the AM on 26 May 1915 .

Comments. We suspect that Thomas based his account of P. imogene on one specimen, and if so, M.2561 would have no type status. This specimen was examined and identified by Thomas, who arranged for it to be sent to the AM in March 1915 (AM Archives AMS9 Letters Received, L.104/1915). Thomas does not explicitly state the number of specimens used in his description, although the opening sentence of his original account might imply that he had one specimen. The adult female holotype 1891.9.10.2 and one other (1891.9.10.1) are the only specimens registered in the BMNH; the specimen now at the AM had not been registered (Paula Jenkins, BMNH, pers. comm. 18 February 2014). The latter two specimens might be regarded as paratypes on the grounds that they could have been examined by Thomas. However, it seems odd that Thomas did not mention additional specimens in his account, given that he was proposing a distinct new genus and species. Further, he had a clear understanding of type specimen nomenclature and the concept of a type series, and had earlier proposed the term “para-type” ( Thomas, 1893). Thomas either became aware of additional specimens after preparing his species account, had decided to restrict the type series to the holotype, or simply neglected to mention additional specimens used in his account. Hughes et al. (2014) report the first specimen of this species to be collected since the original series in 1890. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We greatly appreciate assistance from the following AM staff, who enabled us to draw from their extensive experience and specialist expertise: Dr Des Beechey for input on digitization of the Mammal Collection; Dr Walter Boles, for comments on the manuscript; Dr Don Colgan for information concerning establishment of the tissue collection; James King for X-ray image imagery; Dr Mark Eldridge for much feedback on molecular systematics and for reading several versions of the manuscript; Dr Greta Frankham for advice on Potoroo systematics; Dr David McAlpine for guidance with nomenclatural conundrums; Dr Ross Pogson for discussions of AM history; staff of AM Archives, Vanessa Finney, Patricia Egan and Rose Docker for innumerable document searches; the AM Librarians Anina Hainsworth, Adria Castellucci, Fiona Simpson, and Frances Smith. We especially thank the invaluable assistance and time given by the Editor, Dr Shane McEvey, for his patient guidance with plate and manuscript preparation, and Stuart Humphreys, from the Photographic Section, for his time, patience and wizardry in preparation of a large number of the skull images. Thanks to our AMRI Director Dr Rebecca Johnson and our Manager, Life and GeoSciences, Cameron Slatyer for their enthusiastic ongoing support.

We are delighted that Prof. Tim Flannery, formerly of the AM Mammal Section, donated his time to comment on the manuscript and share his unparalleled knowledge of Indo- Pacific mammals. Dr Ken Aplin provided much invaluable advice on wide-ranging issues raised in this work and his great generosity is much appreciated. Dr Glenn Shea (School of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney) assisted with numerous nomenclatural tangles, and Glenn and Ian A. W. McAllan (Macquarie University) shared many valuable insights from their uncannily encyclopedic, historical knowledge and insight into early AM luminaries. Emeritus Prof. Colin Groves (Australian National University) and Dr Steve Jackson (University of New South Wales) kindly assisted our enquiries ahead of publication of their massive tome and Steve made valuable comments to an early version of the ms. Dr Mike Fleming kindly allowed us to draw from his unpublished investigation of early bilby specimens. Thanks to Dr Anne Kerle, for discussions on Trichosurus taxonomy, and Dr Peter Wilson (Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University) for discussions about Ellis Troughton’s biography. Emeritus Prof. Pat Woolley (La Trobe University) drew our attention to a number of dasyurid issues and kindly agreed to comment on dasyurid accounts. Thanks also to Terry Reardon (South Australian Museum) for assistance with our search for Krefft’s Molossus wilcoxi syntypes, and Andrew Baker (Queensland University of Technology) and Dr Mathew Crowther (University of Sydney) for ruminations about taxonomy of small dasyurids and dogs. Thanks to John Tomlinson, of Melbourne, for support throughout the project and for proof-reading an early draft. HEP acknowledges his late parents, Shirley J. and David K. Parnaby, who fostered critical thinking from an early age and were unfazed by a childhood skull and pickle collection.

The following people assisted with aspects of the collections under their care: Dr Steve Van Dyck and Heather Janetzki , Queensland Museum ; Christiane Funk , Collection Manager Mammals , Museum für Naturkunde , Berlin; Wayne Longmore , previously of Museum Victoria, for sharing his experience on tracking down early specimens in the AM and with our search for Krefft material in the MV; Paula Jenkin (Natural History Museum, London), for prompt rely to our requests; Dr Jude Philp (Senior Curator, Macleay Museum, Sydney University Museums) for much valued feedback about the MMUS material; and Dr Kenny J. Travouillon, Curator of Mammals , Western Australian Museum for information on types. Dr Alrun Albrecht, Senior Publishing Editor, Journals Department, Elsevier promptly assisted with our requests about publication dates. To the two manuscript reviewers, Drs Ken Aplin and Mark Eldridge, we extend our utmost gratitude, and our condolences for the time impost.