Antechinus minimus, (Geoffroy)

Dyck, Steve Van, 2014, The Black-tailed Antechinus, Antechinus arktos sp. nov.: a new species of carnivorous marsupial from montane regions of the Tweed Volcano caldera, eastern Australia, Zootaxa 3765 (2), pp. 101-133 : 111-112

(4) A. arktos versus A. minimus (Geoffroy)

Pelage: A. arktos has a brownish-grey head that changes markedly to an orange-brown rump, fuscous black hindfeet, a thick-based, finely-furred, black tail and an orange-yellow eye and cheek patch; A. minimus has coarser fur and a leaden grey head that merges to brownish yellow fur on the rump and flanks.

External Measurements: A. arktos is larger than A. minimus in absolute measurement for tv and hf in males and females (see Table 5).

Craniodental Characters: A. arktos is larger than A. minimus in absolute measurement for a range of craniodental characters in males and females, as follows: in males APV, BL, Dent, IBW, IOW, NW OBW, PL, NWR, UML, I 1 -P 3, LML, I 1 -P 3 and UPL; in females APV, BL, Dent, IOW, PL, PML, UML, BuL, I 1 -P 3, LML, I 1 -P 3, M 2 W and UPL. A. arktos is significantly larger than A. minimus for a range of characters: in males PPV, TC, PML, BuL and M 2 W and in females at TC ( Table 5).

Other Comments: A. arktos occur in south-east Qld and north-east NSW in areas of high elevation and rainfall on the Tweed Volcano caldera, whereas A. minimus is limited to damp habitats of coastal South Australia, Victoria and throughout Tasmania. Genetics: uncorrected pairwise range differences at the mitochondrial gene CytB between A. arktos and A. minimus are 9.8–10.4%.