Chaeropus ecaudatus ecaudatus

Travouillon, Kenny J., Parnaby, Harry & Ingleby, Sandy, 2020, Neotype Designation for the Australian Pig-footed Bandicoot Chaeropus ecaudatus Ogilby, 1838, Records of the Australian Museum 72 (3), pp. 77-80 : 78

Chaeropus ecaudatus ecaudatus

Ogilby, 1838

Fig. 1

Neotype. Australian Museum PA422, juvenile male skull and the associated partial skeleton ( Fig. 1 ), collector and date of collection unknown.

Type locality. The onlY localitY information entered bY SecretarY Palmer in the PA catalogue is “MurraY River”.

Remarks. The skull is clearlY that of a juvenile, with deciduous premolars still being in place and incompletelY erupted upper 4th molars. The skeleton also shows evidence of being that of a juvenile, with incomplete fusion of the epiphYses of the long bones of the limbs. This is most obvious in the humerus. The skeleton has 4 cervical vertebrae represented including the axis (C2) and C3 to C5. The atlas (C1) and C6 are missing. A total of 10 thoracic vertebrae are present, though it is difficult to be certain which one is missing as onlY the last 4 are still articulated. All 6 lumbar vertebrae are present, as well as the first sacral vertebra. Some of the caudal vertebrae are preserved with 6 chevrons and includes Ca01–Ca13, though onlY the anterior half of Ca13 is present. The right scapula, humerus and ulna are present, but onlY the left ulna is present. Two thoracic bones are present. The fused left and right tibia and fibula are present, as well as all bones of the left and right pes.

Australian Museum PA422 was selected as the neotYpe because it is the onlY sexed specimen displaYing keY diagnostic dental criteria, some of which are onlY seen in unworn teeth. OnlY two specimens are complete enough to be considered for neotYpe selection, AM PA422 and NMV C2900. The latter is an unsexed adult with teeth that are too worn to reveal keY diagnostic characters. As a result, the juvenile dentition of the sexed AM PA422 is taxonomicallY more informative as a neotYpe than NMV C2900.AM PA422 has been fullY described in Travouillon et al. (2019) and was the principal comparative specimen used in the species diagnosis of Chaeropus yirratji Travouillon et al. (2019) .

Figures

Figure 1. Australian Museum PA422, neotYpe skull and partial skeleton of Chaeropus ecaudatus OgilbY 1838. Scale = 5 cm.