Melomys muscalis froggatti Troughton, 1937a

Parnaby, Harry E., Ingleby, Sandy & Divljan, Anja, 2017, Type Specimens of Non-fossil Mammals in the Australian Museum, Sydney, Records of the Australian Museum 69 (5), pp. 277-420 : 362

Melomys muscalis froggatti Troughton, 1937a

Rec. Aust. Mus. 20(2): 123. (27 August 1937).

Common name. Grassland Melomys .

Current name. Melomys burtoni ( Ramsay, 1887a) , following Musser & Carleton (2005) and Aplin & Dickman et al. (2008). Status uncertain. Considered to be a junior synonym of Melomys lutillus muscalis ( Thomas, 1913) by Menzies (1996). Aplin & Dickman et al. (2008) regard M. burtoni and M. lutillus ( Thomas, 1913) to be an unresolved species complex of Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Holotype. M.2374 by original designation.Adult male, skull ( Fig. 39 ), study skin, registered 16 December 1913. The only data in the original register entry is “ Royal Geographical Society Expedition to New Guinea ”, “Old Collection”, later marked “Holotype” by Troughton. Collected in 1885 by W.W. Froggatt (Troughton’s account). The AM type specimen card index gives the collection date as September–October 1885.

Condition. Cranium missing both zygomatic arches, both auditory capsules fractured and damaged, small section of posterior palate missing; both dentaries missing coronoid processes. Study skin: missing both ear tips and fractured tail tip.

Type locality. “The banks of the Strickland River, about 100 miles above the junction with the Fly River”, Western Province, Papua New Guinea ( Troughton, 1937a: 124). It seems conceivable that Troughton obtained locality data of the holotype from his contemporary Froggatt. Dwyer et al. (2015) concluded that “Fossil camp” was the furthest upstream location on the Strickland River reached by the Geographical Society’s Expedition, located between the junctions of the Murray and Carrington Rivers at approximately 5°51'20"S 142°8'50"E, and they state that Froggatt had estimated this site to be about 100 miles (along the river) from the junction with the Fly River. The Expedition stayed one night at Fossil Camp (27 September 1885) and returned to the Fly junction on 29 September. It is likely that the holotype was collected in late September, and the type locality was Fossil Camp or an adjoining site downstream.

Comments. Troughton erroneously gives the holotype registration as M.2377, presumably a typographical error. His description appears to be based on a single specimen.

Figures

Figure 39. AM M.2374, holotype skull of Melomys muscalis froggatti Troughton, 1937a. (Photography by Stuart Humphreys).