Antechinus swainsonii subsp. swainsonii, swainsonii (Waterhouse)

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 : 109

(1) A. arktos versus A. swainsonii swainsonii (Waterhouse)

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. s. swainsonii has more uniformly dark brown or grizzled grey fur on the head and back, with a subtly brownish rump, as well as dark brownish hindfeet and tail.

External Measurements: A. arktos males have significantly longer tails than A. s. swainsonii (see Tables 1, 2 and 5).

Craniodental Characters: A. arktos is smaller than A. s. swainsonii in absolute measurement for APV in males and females. A. arktos is larger than A. s. swainsonii in absolute measurement in males for the following characters: IBW, IPV, NW, R-LM 1, R-LM 3 and NWR, and in females for the following characters: IPV, TC, UML. A. arktos is also significantly larger than A. s. swainsonii in the following measures: in males, R-LC 1, SWR-LC 1 B, TC and UML; in females, M 2 W ( Tables 1, 2 and 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. s. swainsonii is known from a range of habitat types limited to Tasmania. Genetics: uncorrected pairwise range differences at the mitochondrial gene CytB between A. arktos and A. s. swainsonii are 10.8-11.8%.