Uromys macropus exilis Troughton & Le Souef, 1929b

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 : 380-381

Uromys macropus exilis Troughton & Le Souef, 1929b

Aust. Zool. 6: 98. (13 August 1929).

Common name. Giant White-tailed Rat.

Current name. Uromys caudimaculatus caudimaculatus ( Krefft, 1867b) , following Jackson & Groves (2015).

Holotype. M.4378 by original designation. Female adult, skull ( Fig. 47 ), study skin, originally as body in alc., collected by A. S. Le Souef in September 1928; registered on 7 September 1928.

Condition. Cranium missing both auditory bullae, left auditory capsule is partially detached; left dentary missing distal part of coronoid process; right dentary complete. Study skin: missing scales on c. 1 cm of the proximal end of tail, otherwise in good condition.

Type locality. Hinchinbrook Island, North Qld, Australia.

Comments. Described from a single specimen. Troughton subsequently elevated exilis to species rank, believing that it was “very distinct” from mainland Australian Uromys based on cranial characters ( Troughton, 1941 and subsequent editions).

Figures

Figure 47.AM M.4378, holotype skull of Uromys macropus exilis Troughton & Le Souef, 1929b. (Photography by Sally Cowan).