Planigale tenuirostris Troughton, 1928

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 : 311

Planigale tenuirostris Troughton, 1928

Rec. Aust. Mus. 16(6): 285, figs 2a–g, plate xxxix. (11 June 1928).

Common name. Narrow-nosed Planigale .

Current name. Planigale tenuirostris Troughton, 1928 ; following Jackson & Groves (2015).

Holotype. M.3933 by original designation (erroneously as M.3856). Adult female, skull, body in alc., collected by Richard Helms in “May or June, 1890”, during the Darling River floods, registered 27 June 1927, re-registered from the “Old Collection”.

Condition. Cranium missing both zygomatic arches, missing occipital area and fracture in the right parietal bone; both dentaries complete. Body in alc.: dorsal fur slip, tail tip is almost detached.

Type locality. Darling River, at Bourke or Wilcannia, NSW, Australia.

Paratype. M.3934 by original designation (erroneously as M.3857). Young female, skull and skin in alc., same data as holotype.

Comments. Archer (1976: 356) noted that Troughton mistakenly gave the holotype and paratype registration as M.3856 and M.3857, respectively, in his original description, a mistake that was repeated subsequently (e.g., Tate, 1947). It is likely that Troughton’s citation of the incorrect registration numbers was simply an error. M.3856 and M.3857 were both registered as Pteropus poliocephalus in January 1927 without amendment. An undated note written in Troughton’s hand in the register after M.3855 states “Special note—Two specimens of Planigale tenuirostris said to be registered M.3856–57 (in Rec. Aust. Mus . xvi, 6, 1928, p. 287) are actually registered as M.3933–34.”