Macrotis lagotis cambrica Troughton, 1932b

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 : 319-320

Macrotis lagotis cambrica Troughton, 1932b

Aust. Zool. 7(3): 230. (15 September 1932).

Common name. Greater Bilby.

Current name. Macrotis lagotis lagotis ( Reid, 1837) , following Jackson & Groves (2015). Some modern authors recognize subspecies within M. lagotis , but the taxonomic status of this extinct form remains uncertain pending a comprehensive study.

Holotype. M.677 by original designation. Male adult, skull, skin mount ( Figs 18–19 ), donated by Dr Machattie of Bathurst, registered 17 September 1891.

Condition. Cranium missing basioccipital; hole in left parietal, hole in right temporal bone; left dentary missing angular process, right dentary complete. Skin mount with bald patch around eyes, ear tips torn.

Type locality. Given as Bathurst, NSW in the original account but historical documents indicate that the holotype came from the Peak Hill district (32°44'S 148°11'E), NSW (Dr Mike R. Fleming, pers. comm., July 2015) .

Paratypes. (17, 16 by subsequent determination), all from NSW. A.18586 by original designation (allotype), young adult female, skull, skin mount, Coombie, [collected and] presented by Mr K. H. Bennett and Mr W. Adam, registered August 1883; A.6643–44, sex not recorded, both skulls, Mossgiel presented through Mr Broadrith, September 1879; A.7977–78, sex not recorded, both skulls and skeletons, both “Moolah”, Mossgiel, presented by K. H. Bennett, registered January 1880; S.420, adult, sex not recorded, skull, Bourke, purchased in 1889 from R. L. King, registered May 1893; S.507, sex not recorded, skull and skeleton, 1 mile from Dubbo, donated by A. Wurfel, registered 9 August 1895; S.616, young adult, sex not recorded, skull and skeleton, Goulburn district, donated by J. J. Roberts, registered 20 August 1897; S.662, female, skull and skeleton, Groongal, Mr S. R. L. Learmonth, registered 15 September 1898; S.707, sex not recorded, skull, Gilgandra, presented by W. L. R. Gipps, registered 4 August 1899; M.4 (not located in Collection), skin mount, Illaboo, presented by Mr W. Cowley, registered in June 1886 and sent to the AM Education Section in 1970; M.1314, female, skin mount, skull in situ, Narrandera, presented by F. Newby, registered July 1898; M.1351, male, skull, study skin, Groongal, south-west railway line, presented by Mr S. R. L. Learmonth, registered 15 September 1898; M.1499, male, skull, study skin,?Bathurst district, but locality listed as “suspect” (definitely not from the Bathurst district, Dr Mike R. Fleming, pers. comm., July 2015), Dr S. H. MacCulloch, registered 10 April 1900; M.1712, male, skull, study skin, no locality, assumed to be NSW (marked as cambrica by Troughton on specimen index card), presented by Zoological Soc. of NSW, registered 4 August 1903; M.1784, male, skull, study skin, locality and presenter not recorded, assumed to be from NSW, Remarks column of Register states “Cold Storage”, registered 5 October 1904; M.1964, male, skull, skin mount, Moree, presented by Hugh W. S. Christie, registered 5 June 1908.

Comments. In his original account, Troughton (1932b) states that the holotype came from Bathurst. A detailed historical review of locality data of all bilby specimens in the collection in progress by Dr Mike Fleming has revealed that the holotype definitely came from the Peak Hill district, considerably inland from Bathurst. His investigations could result in a revision of locality data for some of the specimens listed as paratypes here. Troughton gave registration numbers of the holotype and allotype but does not refer to paratypes in his original account. Troughton (1932b: 220) states that he had a series from NSW totaling “9 skins and sixteen crania for examination” and our tally matches that total. We regard the latter specimens as paratypes. The species trinomial on the specimen index card has been updated in red ink in Troughton’s handwriting for the holotype and allotype, and for an additional eight specimens for which we have been able to locate original index cards. Troughton lists 13 localities for this taxon in the original description but an inspection of the register indicates that he would not have seen specimens from Grenfell or Wallendbeen, which were sent to other institutions in 1906 and 1909 respectively. A skin mount (M.4) from Illaboo listed above and sent to the AM Education section in 1970, has not been located. It could be in the Mammal Collection but without its original registration number.

It seems that little, if any alcohol material of the extinct NSW populations of this taxon remains in the AM Collection and such material is possibly not part of Troughton’s type series.AM.34063, two pouch young (missing back limbs and tails) were found in the collection and registered 14 January 1999 and the only data are “presented by H. K. Bennett ”. It is not known if the specimens were from NSW or if this is an error for Mr K. H. Bennett, stated by Troughton (1932b: 220) to be the property owner of “Moolah”, Mossgiel, NSW, in the 1880s.

Order Diprotodontia

Figures

Figure 18. AM M.677, holotype skin mount of Macrotis lagotis cambrica Troughton, 1932b. (Photography by Sally Cowan).

Figure 19.AM M.677, holotype skull ofMacrotis lagotis cambrica Troughton, 1932b. (Photography by Stuart Humphreys).