Antechinus (Podabrus) froggatti Ramsay, 1887

Parnaby, Harry & Gill, Anthony C., 2021, Mammal type specimens in the Macleay Collections, University of Sydney, Zootaxa 4975 (2), pp. 201-252 : 210-211

Antechinus (Podabrus) froggatti Ramsay, 1887

Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (ser. 2) 2 (3), 552. (30th November 1887).

Description read at the 31st August 1887 meeting of the LSNSW.

Current name. Stripe-faced Dunnart Sminthopsis macroura froggatti ( Ramsay, 1887) following Jackson & Groves (2015).

Taxonomic status. There is convincing genetic evidence that S. macroura froggatti should be re-instated as a species but further research is needed to resolve its status ( Jackson & Groves 2015). Currently, usually treated as a subspecies of S. macroura ( Gould, 1845) , e.g., Baker (2015), but its taxonomic status has remained unsettled, being treated at different times since 1888 as either a synonym, a subspecies or a full species.

Holotype. MAMU M.1177, female, body in alc., skull extracted, collected by W.W. Froggatt in 1887, subsequent determination by Troughton (1932). Specimen sent to AM at an unknown date where it was registered as M. 8019 in 1959, and where it remains as a body in alcohol with extracted skull. We have not located documentation of the transfer and do not know whether the specimen was on loan or exchanged. The collection date was not recorded but Froggatt (1934: 78) incorrectly stated that it was in the last few days of August 1887: “While in Derby for a few days …. I collected along the salt marsh and captured a fat-tailed mouse beneath some rubbish. It proved to be a new species… named by Dr Ramsay…. Antechinus froggatti . On September 1st I left Derby …for Yedia Homestead.” Given that Ramsay read the description of this species at the 31st August 1887 meeting of the LSNSW, the specimen could not have been collected in late August but was possibly collected in late April or May. Froggatt (1934) stated that he left Derby in mid-May and collected inland until returning in late August.

Type locality. Near the shore at King Sound, near Derby, Western Australia ( Troughton 1932; Froggatt 1934).

Comments. Troughton (1932) re-instated this taxon to species and provided a detailed re-diagnosis. It is possible that the skull had already been extracted by Ramsay for his original account. Ramsay stated that he based the species on material collected by Froggatt. Although he gave no indication of the number of specimens that he examined, it has been assumed to be a single specimen (e.g., Troughton 1932), as implied by Froggatt (1934). We have no evidence that more than one specimen was collected. Stanbury (1969) cited MAMU M.1177 as the holotype. The MAMU Register entry for M.1177 has a note signed by Stanbury and dated September, 1968, when he assigned an old unallocated number in the absence of the specimen, with the remark “on loan to the Aust Museum since 1956?”. Measurements and photographs of the holotype skull are given by Archer (1981). The holotype is discussed by Parnaby et al. (2017).