Antechinus flavipes subsp. rubeculus (Van Dyck, 1982)

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 : 53-54

(11) A. flavipes rubeculus versus A. subtropicus

Pelage: A. flavipes rubeculus has a greyish head that merges to orange-red tonings on the rump and flanks, whereas A. subtropicus is more uniformly brown from head to rump. A. flavipes rubeculus has a darkened tail tip, whereas A. subtropicus typically has no noticeably darkened tail tip. A. flavipes rubeculus 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) or significant differences in external body measures between A. flavipes rubeculus and A. subtropicus in either males or females. However, A. f. rubeculus tend to have larger body weight and hind foot length than A. subtropicus (Table 6).

Skull: A. f. rubeculus differs from A. subtropicus in absolute measurement (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) for the following skull / dentary characters: in males—larger IPV, M 2 W, R-LM 1, UML, LML and smaller PPV, and in females—larger IPV, M 2 W, R-LC 1, R-LM 1, R-LM 2, R-LM 3, SWR-LC 1 B and smaller PPV. A. f. rubeculus has numerous other dentary features that significantly (p<0.01) differ from A. subtropicus —14 variables for males and 14 for females, as shown in Table 6.

Other Comments: A. f. rubeculus is found only in the wet tropics of north-east Queensland, 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 range differences at the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome B (CytB) between A. f. rubeculus and A. subtropicus are 13.7–14.5%.