Sminthopsis murina tatei Troughton, 1965a

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 : 313

Sminthopsis murina tatei Troughton, 1965a

Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 89(3): 316, figs 3a–b. (7 May 1965).

Common name. Common Dunnart.

Current name. Sminthopsis murina tatei Troughton, 1965a ; following Jackson & Groves (2015), who state that it might warrant elevation to species rank, with further investigation required.

Holotype. M.7157 by original designation. Male adult, skull ( Fig. 13 ), body in alc., [presented by Mr B. Shipway, collected October 1944], registered 3 December 1945.

Condition. Cranium has hole in right temporal bone; both dentaries complete. Alc. body: fracture in the tail.

Type locality. Tolga, alt. c. 2,460 ft, near Atherton, Atherton Tableland, Qld, Australia.

Comments. The description was apparently based only on the holotype. Troughton’s assessment of fur colour was drawn from descriptions by Tate (1947) of AMNH skins from the same general area. This taxon is distinct morphologically (Kitchener, Stoddart & Henry, 1984) and genetically ( Blacket et al., 2006), and a re-assessment of its taxonomic status is needed.

Figures

Figure 13.AM M.7157, holotype skull ofSminthopsis murina tatei Troughton, 1965a. (Photography by Sally Cowan).