Antechinus mysticus, Baker, Mutton & Van Dyck, 2012

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 : 316-317

35.

Bufffooted Antechinus

Antechinus mysticus

French: Antéchinus a pattes chamois / German: Mystische BreitfuRbeutelmaus / Spanish: Antequino de patas color ante

Taxonomy. Antechinus mysticus Baker, Mutton & Van Dyck, 2012 ,

Samford in north- west Brisbane (27° 19° 56” S, 152° 48’ 26” E), Queensland, Australia.

This species had been sheltering under the expansive taxonomic umbrella of the ubiquitous A. flavipes , although for decades mid-eastern Queensland populations were recognized by local authorities as subtly distinctive. Recent work used genetic and morphological data to reveal that this population (Mackay) and populations 800 km farther south in the state’s capital, Brisbane, were distinctly different from all recognized subspecies of A. flavipes . Genetics suggested species-level differentiation because differences between sympatric A. mysticus and A. flavipes (9-10% at mtDNA) were at least as pronounced as those between other species pairs in the genus. Further work showed that breeding in sympatric populations of A. flavipes and A. mysticus was asynchronous because females of each species caught in the same area at a given time were in grossly different reproductive condition. A. mysticus is perhaps sister to A. argentus ; the pair is ¢.7-5-8% divergent in mtDNA. There are no subspecies of A. mysticus formally recognized to date, but populations from mid-eastern and south-eastern Queensland are subtly different, genetically and morphologically. Monotypic.

Distribution. E Australia (Queensland), from Eungella National Park, near Mackay, S in scattered populations (Blackdown Tableland, Bulburin, Many Peaks Range, Sunshine Coast hinterland) to D’Aguilar National Park near the Queensland/New South Wales border.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 9:3-11.7 cm (males) and 8:-1-11.4 cm (females), tail 8:7-11.7 cm (males) and 7.9-9.6 cm (females), ear 1.5-1.9 cm (males) and 1:4.1-8 cm (females), hindfoot 1.7-2 cm (males) and 1.6-2 cm (females); weight 32-5-55 g (males) and 18-336 g (females). There is marked sexual dimorphism for size. The Buff-footed Antechinus can be distinguished in the field in having paler feet and tail base than the Yellow-footed Antechinus (A. flavipes ) and a grayish head that merges to a buff-yellow color on rump and flanks compared with the more uniform brown head and body of the Subtropical Antechinus (A. subtropicus ) and the Brown Antechinus (A. stuartii ). Features of the cranio-dentary are also useful for identification: the Bufffooted Antechinus differs from the Yellow-footed Antechinus in having smaller molar teeth, from the Subtropical Antechinus in having a larger gap between front and rear holes in the palate, and from the Brown Antechinus in having a generally broader snout.

Habitat. Wet,riparian habitat, possibly at high elevations. In south-eastern Queensland, the Buff-footed Antechinus co-occurs with the dry-adapted Yellow-footed Antechinus and the closed forest-adapted Subtropical Antechinus. In these cases, Buff-footed Antechinuses are possibly forced by the larger species to occupy middle ecotones such as riparian stream edges at moderate elevations (100-300 m). North of about Gympie in south-eastern Queensland, Subtropical Antechinuses no longer occur, and Bufffooted Antechinuses are found very patchily at higher elevations (500-800 m) in wetter forest. At their apparent northern limit in Eungella National Park, 80 km west of Mackay, mid-eastern Queensland, Buff-footed Antechinuses are readily found in cool, wet rainforest patches near Broken River at an elevation of 1000 m. The Buff-footed Antechinus is apparently the only species of antechinus occurring in this region. In a recent study conducted at Samford on populations of the Bufffooted Antechinus and the Subtropical Antechinus occurring alone and in sympatry, trapping success for Bufffooted Antechinuses was significantly higher at the sympatric site (5-2%) where it co-occurred with the Subtropical Antechinus in closed forest than at a nearby open forest site (3:2%) where it was the sole antechinus encountered. Trapping rates of the Subtropical Antechinus were more variable between the two sites where they occurred, with success significantly higher at higher elevation rainforest (7-2%) than at lowerelevation riparian closed forest (0-85%). Withinits distribution, the Subtropical Antechinus is predominately found at high elevations in wet vine forests and can be very common. Elsewhere,it is replaced by the Yellow-footed Antechinus, a more open forest, dry-adapted species. Thus, it may be that the lower elevation site is just on the fringes of preferred habitat of the Subtropical Antechinus and is less favorable than the higher elevation, thicker rainforest. Absence of the Subtropical Antechinus directly across the river at the lower elevation site, where habitat is markedly drier and more open (and the Bufffooted Antechinus evidently occurs alone) lends support to this idea. It is notable that in mid-eastern Queensland, where the Bufffooted Antechinus apparently occurs in the absence of congeners, it occupies high-elevation rainforest. It may be that in south-eastern Queensland, the significantly larger Subtropical Antechinus competitively prevents the Bufffooted Antechinus from occupying this habitat, forcing it into more marginal riparian habitat farther down the mountain. Similarly, the Yellow-footed Antechinus, which is also larger than the Bufffooted Antechinus and tends to occupy drier habitat around Brisbane, has been found to co-occur with the Bufffooted Antechinus only 1 km away from the open-forest site where the Bufffooted Antechinusis found alone.It is plausible that in Brisbane, the Buff-footed Antechinus occupies a middle (predominately riparian) ecotone between these two significantly larger species, with the Subtropical Antechinus in more closed, higher elevation habitat and the Yellow-footed Antechinus in drier and more marginal open forest.

Food and Feeding. Nothing is known of the dietary habits of wild Bufffooted Antechinuses, but research looking into fecal pellet components in south-eastern Queensland populations is underway. Bufffooted Antechinuses co-occur with Subtropical Antechinuses in south-eastern Queensland, and the latter live on a diet predominantly of arthropods; plausibly, Bufffooted Antechinuses prey on similar foodstuffs. In captivity, the Bufffooted Antechinus readily devoured cockroaches, beetles, and grasshoppers. One individual tore back legs off a very large grasshopper to prevent its escape and then quickly demolished the remainder, starting with the head.

Breeding. As in other species of antechinus, the Buff-footed Antechinus undergoes an annual male die-off, which signifies the conclusion of the breeding period. Males commence breeding at ¢.10-5-11-2 months of age. Some female Buff-footed Antechinuses are known to breed in consecutive seasons, but it is not known if any femaleslive to breed in a third season. Breeding biology of the northern population is at present unknown, although studies are planned in Eungella National Park. A recent study at Samford, a suburb in north-eastern Brisbane, compared timing of breeding in the Bufffooted Antechinus to that of the Subtropical Antechinus. Three nearby populations (1-3 km apart) were studied: one where the Buff-footed Antechinus occurs alone, one where the Subtropical Antechinus occurs alone, and one where the two species are sympatric. The three sites were examined intensely via a three-month, mark-recapture study, with trapping data on individuals, such as weight, scrotal width (in males), and reproductive condition obtained every third day. Life history of the Buff-footed Antechinus was typical of the genus, including precise synchrony of reproductive events and post-mating death of all males. The Bufffooted Antechinus mated from late July to mid-August, at least one month earlier than its significantly larger congener, the Subtropical Antechinus. This was the first study in which a smaller species of Antechinus was found to breed earlier when it and a congener co-occurred. It was posited that prey resources favoring the Bufffooted Antechinus may flush earlier in spring than those favored by the Subtropical Antechinus. Despite geographical proximity, timing of breeding within each species was also found to vary between localities. Breeding of the Subtropical Antechinus likely occurred later at Mount Glorious, possibly due to its higher elevation. Breeding in the Bufffooted Antechinus occurred significantly earlier at the site where it was the only species of antechinus. Causes for this are likely complex but may be explained, in part, by perceived differences in diel length at the two locations, because the extent of forest cover differed markedly between the sites. In this study, trap success of male Bufffooted Antechinuses changed over time, increasing toward the mating season and decreasing dramatically during and toward the end of the period,just prior to die-off. Signs of male deterioration were observed in the Buff-footed Antechinus, such as loss of fur, increased parasite load, and drooping and pigmented scrotums; this is typical for other members of the genus. By mid-August, all male Buff-footed Antechinuses (at both locations) had disappeared from the trappable population and were presumed dead. Thus, it was highly unlikely that males were present when females spontaneously ovulated from late July to mid-August and gave birth to offspring from late August to mid-September, after ¢.30 days of gestation. The pattern of reproduction in the Bufffooted Antechinus at both sites was the same, with female pouch reddening first, followed by onset of male deterioration, male dieoff, and finally birth of offspring. Timing of events at the two sites differed slightly, with individuals at the more open forest site consistently undergoing these changes before individuals in closed forest. Timings of ovulation and births occurred significantly earlier at the open forest site compared with the closed forest. Mating times also differed, with individuals in open forest estimated to mate significantly earlier, from 20 July to 1 August, than individuals in nearby closed forest (where they co-occurred with the Subtropical Antechinus) where mating was estimated at 1-10 August. Data from non-intensive trapping (7 days/month) in previous years suggested these timings are consistent and highly synchronized within each local population.

Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but Bufffooted Antechinuses are predominantly nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Male and female Bufffooted Antechinuses have been captured in Elliot traps more than 100 m apart, on successive nights. Individual females have been caught in the same line of Elliot traps in successive years, indicating that home ranges of at least some females are small. In other species of antechinus, females have smaller home ranges than males.

Status and Conservation. The Buff-footed Antechinus is new to science, and little is known of its abundance or threats, so it is too early to make a formal assessment of its conservation status. Its distribution extends across a straight-line distance of ¢.800 km. The Bufffooted Antechinus appears to be fairly widespread in the Sunshine coast hinterland and north-western Brisbane (D’Aguilar Range). Its distribution theoretically encompasses that of its sister taxon, the Silver-headed Antechinus (A. argentus ), which is only found on the escarpment of Kroombit Tops National Park. Interestingly, although the Buff-footed Antechinus has been (historically) found 40 km east of where the Silver-headed Antechinus occurs at Bulburin National Park, none have yet been found in sympatry on Kroombit. They are likely only patchily distributed across their distribution because museum records are scattered and numerous attempts (thousands of trap nights) in the last two years to trap them between Gympie and Rockhampton have been unsuccessful. In north-western Brisbane, in the D’Aguilar National Park, Buff-footed Antechinuses are readily caught. This is also true of the population at Broken River, Eungella National Park, at its northern limit and in parts of the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Major processes that threaten Buff-footed Antechinuses will mostlikely be similar to other vertebrates of the region: habitat modification by humans and predation by domestic and feral cats and Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes).

Bibliography. Baker et al. (2012), Gray (2013), Mutton (2011).

Figures

On following pages: 2. Crest-tailed Mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda); 3. Kowari (Dasyuroides byrnei); 4. Kaluta (Dasykaluta rosamondae); 5. Dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis); 6. Woolley's Three-striped Dasyure (Myoictis leucura); 7. Miller's Three-striped Dasyure (Myoictis melas); 8. Wallace's Three-striped Dasyure (Myoictis wallacii); 9. Tate's Three-striped Dasyure (Myoictis wavicus); 10. Sandstone Pseudantechinus (Pseudantechinus bilarni); 11. Fat-tailed Pseudantechinus (Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis); 12. Carpentarian Pseudantechinus (Pseudantechinus mimulus); 13. Ningbing Pseudantechinus (Pseudantechinus ningbing); 14. Rory’s Pseudantechinus (Pseudantechinus roryi); 15. Woolley's Pseudantechinus (Pseudantechinus woolleyae); 16. Speckled Dasyure (Neophascogale lorentzii); 17. Red-bellied Phascogale (Phascolosorex doriae); 18. Narrow-striped Dasyure (Phascolosorex dorsalis).

Distribution. E Australia (Queensland), from Eungella National Park, near Mackay, S in scattered populations (Blackdown Tableland, Bulburin, Many Peaks Range, Sunshine Coast hinterland) to D’Aguilar National Park near the Queensland/New South Wales border.