Pseudomys (Leggadina) waitei Troughton, 1932c

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 : 370-371

Pseudomys (Leggadina) waitei Troughton, 1932c

Rec. Aust. Mus. 18(6): 290. (20 April 1932).

Common name. Central Short-tailed Mouse.

Current name. Leggadina forresti ( Thomas, 1906a) , following Jackson & Groves (2015), no subspecies recognized.

Holotype. M.5194, by original designation. Male, skull, study skin, originally in alc., palate in alc. Locality in M Register is “ Alice Springs , Central Australia ”, collector and collection date not given, registered in October 1931 from the “Old Collection”.

Condition. Cranium missing zygomatic arches; both dentaries complete. Adult, based on dentition and sutures. Study skin has bald patch on the right flank.

Type locality. Alice Springs area, Northern Territory, Australia.

Paratypes. (5, by subsequent determination). M.5100 , female, body in alc., M.5101–03 , three juveniles in alc., all from Hart Range, between Hale and Plenty Rivers, ENE of Alice Springs, presented by R. Barlow, collected January 1931, all registered 23 February 1931. Collector not given in register, but stated to be Mr T. Hodge-Smith in Troughton’s account and written in Troughton’s hand as Hodge-Smith and Barlow on specimen index card; M.5195 , young adult male, body in alc., Alice Springs, Central Australia, other details as per holotype .

Comments. There appear to be three adult specimens in the type series, although Troughton did not state the number of specimens, and cited the registration number only for the holotype. However M.5195 is marked paratype, and M.5100 is marked allotype in red ink and in Troughton’s hand, in the M Register. Three juveniles in alc. (M.5101–03) in the AM Collection are included as paratypes because they are identified as waitei in the M Register and the specimen index card in Troughton’s hand. The three specimens are entered on one specimen index card with M.5100 written in Troughton’s hand, with annotation “ Allotype ♀ (+ 3 juv)” in red ink. Troughton states that the holotype and M.5195 were registered from the “old collection” but this is likely to be of specimens registered in the 1890s or possibly specimens donated by Spencer or Horn that had remained unregistered. In his description, Troughton mentions Horn Expedition specimens discussed by Waite (1896) under “ Mus gouldi ? ” and remarked that his holotype M.5194 is topotypical and possibly from Waite’s original series. Troughton also makes comparisons with two immature mounted specimens from Waite’s original series but does not give their registration numbers .