Antechinus flavipes subsp. leucogaster

Baker, Andrew M. & Dyck, Steve Van, 2013, Taxonomy and redescription of the Yellow-footed Antechinus, Antechinus flavipes (Waterhouse) (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae), Zootaxa 3649 (1), pp. 1-62 : 41

(11) A. flavipes leucogaster versus A. subtropicus

Pelage: A. flavipes leucogaster has a grey head that merges to orange—fawn brown tonings on the rump, flanks and tail base, whereas A. subtropicus is more uniformly brown from head to rump. A. flavipes leucogaster has a darkened tail tip, whereas A. subtropicus typically has no noticeably darkened tail tip. A. flavipes leucogaster has yellow-orange fur on the upper surface of the hind feet, whereas A. subtropicus has light brownish fur on the upper surface of the hind feet.

External measurements: There are no absolute (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) differences for external body measures between A. flavipes leucogaster and A. subtropicus in either males or females. A. f. leucogaster is significantly smaller in tail-vent length than A. subtropicus for females (Table 4).

Skull: A. f. leucogaster differs from A. subtropicus in absolute measurement (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) for the following skull / dentary characters: in males—smaller APV, PPV and larger IPV, and in females—smaller APV, PPV and larger IPV, R-LM 1 and R-LM 2. A. f. leucogaster has several other dentary features that significantly (p<0.01) differ from A. subtropicus —3 variables for males and 2 for females, as shown in Table 4.

Other Comments: A. f. leucogaster is found only in south-western Western Australia, whereas A. subtropicus is found usually in closed forest at altitude ranging from about Kyogle in north-east New South Wales to Gympie in south-east Queensland. Genetics: uncorrected pairwise difference at the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome B (CytB) between A. f. leucogaster and A. subtropicus is 13.7%.