Antechinus flavipes subsp. flavipes, flavipes

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 : 24

(10) A. flavipes flavipes versus A. stuartii

Pelage: A. flavipes flavipes has a grey head that merges to medium orange-yellow tonings on the rump, flanks and tail base, whereas A. stuartii is more uniformly brownish-grey from head to rump. A. flavipes flavipes has a complete pale eye ring and darkened tail tip, whereas A. stuartii typically has no evidence of either a pale eye ring or noticeably darkened tail tip. A. flavipes flavipes has yellow-orange fur on the upper surface of hind feet, whereas A. stuartii 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 for external body measures between A. flavipes flavipes and A. stuartii in either males or females ( Table 2).

Skull: A. f. flavipes differs from A. stuartii in absolute measurement (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) for the following skull / dentary characters: larger R-LM 2 in males and females. A. f. flavipes has numerous other dentary features that significantly (p<0.01) differ from A. stuartii — 15 variables for males and 18 for females, as shown in Table 2.

Other Comments: A. f. flavipes females have 10–14 pouch nipples, whereas A. stuartii females have 6–10 pouch nipples. A. f. flavipes is found in south-eastern Australia, across 4 states: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. A. stuartii is found in eastern Australia from a southerly latitude south of Sydney, at Kioloa, New South Wales north to around Cunningham’s Gap in south-east Queensland. Genetics: uncorrected pairwise range differences at the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome B (CytB) between A. f. flavipes and A. stuartii are 13.0–14.7%.