Murexia longicaudata (Schlegel, 1866)

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2015, Dasyuridae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 5 Monotremes and Marsupials, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 232-348 : 321-322

40.

Shortfurred Dasyure

Murexia longicaudata

French: Murexie a poil ras / German: Langschwanz-Neuguinea-Beutelmaus / Spanish: Dasiuro de pelo corto

Taxonomy. Phascogale longicaudata Schlegel, 1866 ,

Wonumbai, Aru Islands , Indonesia.

Acceptance of the trans-Torresian distribution of Antechinus lasted until P. A. Woolley’s work in 1984 on phallic morphology; itindicated a dubious relationship between Australian and New Guinean members of Antechinus , challenging integrity of Phascogalinae. Antechinus in Australia, meanwhile, was no longer considered monophyletic, including what we now regard as various species within three genera: Dasykaluta rosamondae , Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis , P. ningbing , P. bilarni , and Parantechinus apcalis. This was followed by work clarifying species applicable to the “antechinus” of New Guinea ( melanurus , habbema, and naso ), which indicated New Guinean species deserved generic reclassification; their inclusion in Antechinus was, as Woolley suggested, inappropriate. Subsequent DNA hybridization and albumin immunology studies confirmed the closer relationship among New Guinea species than with Australian Antechinus , and direct DNA comparisons suggested that New Guinean taxa weresister to Australian antechinuses. Then, in 2002, S. Van Dyck’s comprehensive morphological study of Australian and New Guinean “antechinuses” concluded that New Guinean taxa assigned to Antechinus (pre-1984) represented three related but morphologically primitive taxa that lacked clearaffinity, and thus five genera were raised to accommodate them. Monotypic Micromurexia (habbema), Phascomurexia ( naso ), and Murexechinus ( melanurus ) were all only distantly related to Australian antechinuses. New Guinean Murexia was also rendered monotypic ( M. longicaudata ). Morphologically, this taxon was viewed as having no especially close relationship with the more derived rothschildi , which was thus assigned to Paramurexia . Based on morphology, Australian Antechinus appeared to be monophyletic with Phascogale . Nevertheless, in the last decade, there has been a suite of other independent DNA sequencing suggesting that, despite distinctive morphological divergences in the group as clarified by Van Dyck, these New Guinean taxa would be most simply represented by a single genus, Murexia . There has been consistent and strong support for monophyly of Murexia with respect to other Phascogalines, Australian genera Antechinus and Phascogale , with uncertain status ofsister relationships among the three. This view is most prevalent, so a single genus, Murexia , for the New Guinean “antechinus” fauna is adopted here. M. longicaudata has an extraordinary range of bodysizes, which has ensured an array of described forms. H. Schlegel first described the species in 1866 based on an immature male from Aru Islands. In 1913, O. Thomas described another species (murex) noting that it could be distinguished from Schlegel’s animal by its larger size when in fact he erred with his measurements—murex was not much larger than longicaudata . A few months later, Thomas was given another specimen collected from Irian Jaya. This was also larger than murex and Thomas dutifully consigned it to a subspecies (aspera) of murex. Thomas was apparently unaware of two gigantic specimens of Murexia in Berlin collected from the Urwald des Oertzengerbirges, Irian Jaya, in 1908 and from Astrolabe Bay, Papua New Guinea in 1888. G. Stein examined these specimens in 1932, and he named another new species (maxima), unfortunately without any mention of Thomas's previously named forms. Just five years later, G. H. H. Tate and R. Archbold erected the subgenus Murexia and the type they assigned was Thomas’s murex, to which they referred both Thomas's aspersa and Stein’s maxima. Tate and Archbold, meanwhile, assigned Schlegel’s original longicaudata to what is now M. naso . Today, Thomas’s two taxa, along with Stein’s, are synonymized with Schlegel’s original longicaudata . T. Flannery recognized two subspecies in 1995, but given size disparities, broad distribution, and the cloud over the taxonomy of Murexia generally, it would seem likely there are several cryptic taxa within M. longicaudata . Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

M.l.longicaudataSchlegel,1866—AruandYapenIs,offWNewGuinea.

M. l. murex Thomas, 1913 — mainland New Guinea.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 14-26.7 cm (males) and 13:6-19.8 cm (females), tail 14.7-28.3 cm (males) and 15-215 cm (females); weight 61-134 g (males) and 39-88 g (females). The Shortfurred Dasyureis distinguished from Phascolosorex and Myoictis by its lack of dorsal body stripes and from Neophascogale byits lack of reduced premolars and reddish-brown rather than silvery speckled fur color. Pelage is uniform sepia. The Shortfurred Dasyure has a well-developed, ventraltail crest. They vary greatly in size: largest individuals are found in lowlands of far western New Guinea and the smallest are found at high elevations in the east.

Habitat. Mature tropical hill forest and other reasonably intact forest types, but not in secondary forest, from sea level to elevations of ¢.2200 m. Short-furred Dasyures are found in lower to mid-montane forests.

Food and Feeding. In one study, 76 (44 male and 32 female) Short-furred Dasyures caught at Mount Missim produced feces that contained, by percentage frequency of occurrence in feces examined, 95% beetles, 78% grasshoppers and crickets, 63% spiders, 34% moths/butterflies, 34% bugs, 26% unidentified insects, 19% worms, 17% cockroaches, 11% flies, and 7% vertebrates (including mammal hair).

Breeding. The Short-furred Dasyure uses arboreal and subterranean nests. In one study, an individual was tracked to a nest, a spherical structure of ¢.20 cm in diameter made of dry Castanopsis (Fagaceae) leaves, located 4-5 m above the ground in the leaf axil of a Pandanus tree ( Pandanaceae ). It breeds throughout the year, and females carry up to four young in the pouch. One study of 18 (ten male and eight female) wild-caught Short-furred Dasyures suggested that they might breed at any time of the year. There were lactating females, often at different stages of lactation, in most months when adult females were captured, and juveniles in the population. Two litters were successfully bred in captivity, with 17 attempted pairings and five observed copulations lasting 1-5—4-5 hours. Female Short-furred Dasyures have four nipples, and mothers carried 2-4 young; pregnancy lasted 19-20 days, and lactation lasted 3-5 months. Males have a sternal gland and a scrotal width of 13-15 mm. Males mature at 11-12 months and females at 8-9 months.

Activity patterns. There is no information available for this species.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Short-furred Dasyures are well adapted for a scansorial lifestyle; oversized feet and recurved, sharp claws give it a strong grip, even on vertical tree trunks. In one study, a specimen from Mount Karimui was taken from a tree hollow. In another study using spool-and-line tracking of two adult males on Mount Missim in mid-montane oak forest at 1035-1140 m in elevation, one male was captured five times over five months and fitted with a tracking device on three occasions; on one occasion, this male was tracked to a nest and, on a second occasion, to 6 m up a tree trunk. A second male was tracked to a nest c.4 m above the ground in a tangle of lianas within 1 m of a tree. Tautness of tracking thread suggested that both individuals had moved rapidly toward their destination, running directly (occasionally leaping) along the surface of the ground and across fallen trees. One individual traveled 230 m and the other 90 m. Taken together, these data suggest Short-furred Dasyures are competent climbers, perhaps traveling long distances in search of food.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Shortfurred Dasyure has a wide distribution and faces no major conservation threats. It is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to qualify forlisting in a threatened category. Short-furred Dasyures occur in several protected areas. Predation by feral domestic dogsis believed to be the only threat to the Short-furred Dasyures but not a major problem.

Bibliography. Armstrong et al. (1998), Flannery (1995a), Grossek et al. (2010), Helgen (2007a, 2007b), Helgen & Opiang (2011), Krajewski, Torunsky et al. (2007), Krajewski, Wroe & Westerman (2000), Krajewski, Young et al. (1997), Lopez (2011), Menzies (1991), Schlegel (1866b), Stein (1932), Tate (1947), Tate & Archbold (1937), Thomas (1913), Van Dyck (2002), Woolley (1984b, 1989, 2003), Woolley, Leary, Seri, Wright, Hamilton, Helgen, Singadan, Menzies et al. (2008).

Figures

On following pages: 41. Short-furred Dasyure (Murexia longicaudata); 42. Broad-striped Dasyure (Murexia rothschildi); 43. Long-nosed Dasyure (Murexia naso); 44. Red-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale calura); 45. Northern Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale pirata); 46. Common Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa); 47. Giles's Planigale (Planigale giles); 48. Long-tailed Planigale (Planigale ingrami); 49. Common Planigale (Planigale maculata); 50. Papuan Planigale (Planigale novaeguineae); 51. Narrow-nosed Planigale (Planigale tenuirostris); 52. Wongai Ningaui (Ningauiride); 53. Pilbara Ningaui (Ningaui timealeyi); 54. Southern Ningaui (Ningaui yvonneae); 55. Kultarr (Antechinomys laniger).

Subspecies and Distribution. M.l.longicaudataSchlegel,1866—AruandYapenIs,offWNewGuinea. M. l. murex Thomas, 1913 — mainland New Guinea.