Antechinus flavipes subsp. leucogaster

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 : 41-42

(12) A. flavipes leucogaster versus A. swainsonii

Pelage: A. flavipes leucogaster has a grey head that merges to orange-fawn brown tonings on the rump, flanks and tail base, whereas A. swainsonii is more uniformly dark brown or grizzled grey from head to rump. A. flavipes leucogaster has shorter, less curved claws on hands and feet than A. swainsonii .

External measurements: There are no absolute (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) differences for external body measures between A. flavipes leucogaster and A. swainsonii in either males or females; A. f. leucogaster has significantly smaller body weight, head-body length, tail-vent length and hind foot length than A. swainsonii in both males and females (Table 4).

Skull: A. f. leucogaster differs from A. swainsonii in absolute measurement (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) for the following skull / dentary characters: in males—smaller APV, IOW, PL, I 1 -P 3, I 1 -P 3 and UPL, and in females— smaller APV, BL, Dent, IOW, PPV, PL, HT-B, I 1 -P 3, I 1 -P 3 and UPL, and larger IPV and R-LM 2. A. f. leucogaster has numerous other dentary features that significantly (p<0.01) differ from A. swainsonii —15 variables for males and 11 for females, as shown in Table 4.

Other Comments: A. f. leucogaster females have 8–10 pouch nipples, whereas A. swainsonii females have 6– 10 pouch nipples. A. f. leucogaster is found only in south-western Western Australia, whereas A. swainsonii is found in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and far south-eastern Queensland, in mainly coastal environments. Genetics: uncorrected pairwise difference at the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome B (CytB) between A. f. leucogaster and A. swainsonii is 15.5%.