Halmaturus browni Ramsay, 1877e [not 1876]

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 : 334-335

Halmaturus browni Ramsay, 1877e [not 1876]

Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (ser. 1) 1(4): 307. (March 1877).

Common name. Brown’s Pademelon.

Current name. Thylogale browni browni (Ramsay, 1877e) , following Groves (2005d), but recent genetic analyses raise the possibility that this taxon is conspecific with T. brunii ( Schreber, 1778) , see Eldridge & Coulson (2015).

Syntypes. (3, by subsequent determination by Flannery 1992): PA.1033, subadult male, skull, skin mount; PA.1034, adult female, skin mount, no skull; PA.1035, juvenile female, skull, skin mount. All three were registered in c. 1878 but the only data entered are “ Halmaturus brownii , New Ireland ” with “Type” later written in pencil for the first two numbers. The collector or donor is not given in the Palmer Register but Ramsay stated that the type material was purchased from James Cockerell. All were originally listed as mounts .

Condition. PA.1033: Cranium missing rear braincase wall and basioccipital area, missing anterior tips of nasals, hole in left frontal bone, missing upper 3rd incisors and right canine; right dentary missing tips of coronoid and angular processes, left dentary missing coronoid, condylar and angular processes. Soft palate retained on the skull. Skin mount in poor condition; fur missing from lower abdomen, especially left side, wire is protruding through tail tip and pes. PA.1034: Unclear if the skull is in the skin mount. Skin mount in fair condition; bald patch on right hip and ventral bald patch posterior to pouch, wire is protruding through pes, missing right ear tip. PA.1035: Soft palate retained on the skull. Cranium missing posteroventral section of braincase, hole in left frontal bone, missing rear of left zygomatic arch, right zygomatic arch medially compressed; right dentary missing tips of angular process, left dentary missing coronoid, condylar and angular processes. Skin mount in fair condition; hole through the tail (half way down the tail), bald patch on dorsal surface of the head, missing left ear tip, wire is protruding through pes. Mount is set in partially lying position, ventral surface of which is damaged and worn.

Cranial measurements (mm). Skin adhering to skulls prevented some measurements from being taken. PA.1033: GL, —; DIL, 14.40; PAL, 47.19*; UPM (alv.), 5.05; UMR (alv.), 16.39 (M 1 to M 3); ZB, 44.28; POC, 14.73; MB, —; DL (condyl.), 58.00; LPM (alv.), 4.36; LMR (alv.), 15.99 (M 1 to M 3). PA.1035: GL, —; NasL, 20.83*; NasB, 9.48; PAL, 35.08*; UPM (alv.), 5.51; UMR (alv.), 10.26 (M 1 to M 2); ZB, —; POC, 10.88; MB, —; DL (condyl.), 44.68; LPM (alv.), 4.28; LMR (alv.), 9.50 (M 1 to M 2). [* = estimate, measured over dried tissue].

Type locality. Given as New Ireland in Ramsay’s original account, but suggested by Flannery (1992) to be from Duke of York Islands, New Britain or New Island ( Papua New Guinea), given the poor documentation of locality data provided by Brown for much of his biological material.

Comments. Flannery (1992) lists three syntypes: PA.1033–35. Ramsay’s original account does not indicate the number of specimens that he examined but it was probably at least three, in light of the list of mammals prepared as mounts during 1876 by the AM taxidermist department which lists “3 Kangaroos ( Halmaturus brownii sp nov)” ( Ramsay, 1877h). Ramsay’s main description is based on a male, for which he gives external and cranial measurements that could only have been made on an extracted skull, and he also provides measurements for the largest specimen he saw in Rev. Brown’s collection. The whereabouts or fate of Ramsay’s male skull is unknown but it does not belong with any of the three specimens listed above. The skull labelled PA.1033 is inconsistent with Ramsay’s description, in being smaller in key dimensions given by Ramsay (e.g., greatest skull width 44.3 mm vs 48.25 mm; “dental series” = upper tooth row length, 27.3 vs 33 mm); significantly, there is no sign of the partially erupted permanent premolars mentioned in his description. The skull of PA.1033 was evidently removed from the skin mount subsequent to its examination by Tate (1940), who reported 1033 and 1034 as mounts with skulls inside.