Perameles macroura var. torosus Ramsay, 1877a

Parnaby, Harry & Gill, Anthony C., 2021, Mammal type specimens in the Macleay Collections, University of Sydney, Zootaxa 4975 (2), pp. 201-252 : 215-217

Perameles macroura var. torosus Ramsay, 1877a

Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (ser. 1) 2 (1), 12. (July 1877).

Description read at the 29th January 1877 meeting of the LSNSW.

Current name. Northern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon macrourus torosus (Ramsay, 1877) , following Jackson & Groves (2015).

Taxonomic status. Considered to be a valid species by some taxonomists of the late 19th and early 20th century while others doubted its validity, even as a subspecies. Currently, usually recognised as a subspecies of I. macrourus ( Gould, 1842a) , but further research is needed and the biological reality of I. macrourus torosus has been questioned by some recent authors (see Jackson & Groves 2015). Ramsay published the name Perameles macroura var. torosus , amended to Perameles macroura torosa by Mahoney & Ride (1988).

Syntype. M.471, adult male, skin mount from Endeavour River ( Fig. 5 ). Registered sometime between 1963 to 1965 and listed in the MAMU Mammal Register as a male skin mount, with associated number M1 ( Fig. 6 ), but no mention of a skull. A skull and mandibles subsequently matched to skin M.471 were registered as M.1153 ( Fig. 7 ), probably during 1965. Skull M.1153 is probably correctly matched with skin M.471, but this requires confirmation. Although “M1” is written in pencil on the skull, it is not known if this was done at the AM during original skull extraction, or subsequently. It is clear from entries and annotations during the 1960s registration of the bandicoot collection that the association of skulls with skins was problematic.

Skin mount M.471 is currently the only candidate for lectotype designation but that decision should be made by a specialist in Isoodon taxonomy.

Type locality. Usually assumed to be near Cooktown, Queensland (e.g., Troughton 1941). In his original description, Ramsay mentioned a specimen from Endeavour River (= Cooktown) but gave the distribution as Rockingham Bay to the Endeavour River , implying syntypes .

Comments. The type series has not been identified in the literature until now. Ramsay described an adult female skin. He does not describe a skull and there is no indication that he examined an extracted skull. The few dental measurements given could have been taken from a skull in situ. Although Ramsay’s description focused on a female from Endeavour River , it is likely that it was based on several specimens, although his description is ambiguous. He stated that specimens that he regarded to be P. m. torosus were from Rockingham Bay north to the Endeavour River. Consequently, syntypes are assumed here although previous literature references imply that Ramsay based the description on one specimen. For example, Mahoney & Ride (1988) concluded that the type series of I. m. torosus consisted of one specimen (the holotype), whereabouts unknown .

Although this taxon was described in his paper reporting mammals obtained on the Chevert Expedition, the specimens were probably not obtained during the expedition. The Chevert party did not collect on the mainland in the region of Endeavour River en route to Papua New Guinea ( Macleay 1875a; see Chevert itinerary of Fulton (2016a)). On the return trip, during which Brazier appeared to be the only zoologist remaining on board, the Chevert crew remained offshore at Endeavour River for a few hours while detained by Customs for cargo inspection ( MacMillan 1957: 153).

The syntypes originally in Macleay’s Collection probably included several specimens collected by Edward Spalding in July 1874 from the Endeavour River region. An entry by Macleay in his private diary dated 31st July 1874 states that he received a shipment of specimens from Endeavour River sent by Spalding, that included “skins of a new Bandicoot” ( Horning 1994). The only specimen from Endeavour River listed in the MAMU 1890s Catalogue does not use the name P. m. torosus. Instead, the Catalogue lists Queensland specimens from three localities under “ Perameles macrura [sic] Gould the North-Australian Bandicoot” ( Fig. 2 ). The author of the 1890s Catalogue, who we assume to be Masters, evidently followed the mammal nomenclature of Thomas (1888) and Ogilby (1892), neither of whom recognised torosus as a valid race of P. macroura . The Catalogue lists only two dry skins from Queensland: an adult male stuffed skin from Endeavour River and a female skin from “ Queensland ”. Perhaps the female skin from Queensland is the one from Endeavour River described by Ramsay but we have not compared its measurements against those of the description. The Catalogue also lists a series of adult and subadult P. macroura in alcohol from a third Queensland locality of Herbert River but the collectors are not specified. Macleay could have obtained material from a range of collectors in addition to Spalding but after publication of P. m. torosus. One possibility is John Archibald Boyd, who sent Macleay several shipments of mammals in alcohol during the 1880s from his home at Ripple Creek, Ingham, on the Herbert River (e.g., Macleay 1885). Although Cardwell is not mentioned in the original description, reference to Rockingham Bay probably included Cardwell, a well-known collecting locality from which Ramsay and Macleay obtained mammal specimens from collectors in the first half of the 1870s. For example, Kendall Broadbent collected around Cardwell in 1873 ( Whittell 1954) and sent mammals to Ramsay. Ramsay also made several collecting trips to the Rockingham Bay district before publication of his description of P. m. torosus. It is therefore possible that additional syntypes might originally have been in Ramsay’s private collection (the Dobroyde Museum) or the AM but we have not located any supporting documentation.

Male skin mount M.471 is a likely syntype, and it appears that Troughton had also reached that conclusion. Troughton, then Curator of Mammals at the AM, examined the taxonomy of I. macrourus during 1926 and 1927. Having extracted and examined the skulls of two specimens in the MAMU, which we believe were one I. macrourus from Endeavour River, and another from Port Darwin, he expressed the opinion ( Anonymous 1927) that the Endeavour River specimen was Ramsay’s type and that torosus was probably not a valid race, a view that he maintained over ensuring decades (e.g., Troughton 1941).

We are confident that skin mount M.471 is the specimen considered to be the “ type ” by Troughton. Although unregistered at that time, we believe that M.471 (associated tag M1) was one of two “ Perameles macrourus ” skins sent to the AM in 1926 for skull extraction and identification, the other likely to be male skin mount M.470 (associated tag M2) from Port Darwin. The MAMU Donations Book entry for 27th September 1926 lists “ one P. auratus and 2 P. macrourus” being sent to the AM. The Donations Book entry for 12th November 1929 indicates that these specimens were returned and “restuffed after removal of skulls for sp. identification”. The metal tags and hand-written watch tags marked M1 and M2 now associated with these skins are characteristic of similar hand-writing on tags attached to AM specimens from that period. Tags M1 and M2 were presumably attached by Troughton to distinguish each I. macrourus skin when skulls were extracted at the AM. A third skin ( P. auratus , presumably M.469) sent for skull extraction at the same time does not have an associated M tag.

There appear to be no previously published images or skull measurements of type material of P. m. torosus.

Measurements (mm) of M.1153. Cranium: GL, 85.2; CONL, -; GL from nasals, -; ZYG, 35.9; POC, 11.4; Anterior palatal vacuity length, 7.2; Nasal Length, 34.1; Maximum breadth across both nasals, 5.4; Rostral width at infraorbital foramina, 15.7; Skull breadth at lachrymals, 20.7; Brain case height, 21.1; Basisphenoid bone length, 13.2; Alisphenoid bulla width, 8.8; Maximum breadth across bullae, 28.1; I 1–4 (at base of enamel), 6.35; I 1–5 (at base of enamel), 9.1; I 1 –M 4 (cingl.), 46.6; M 1 –M 3 (crowns), 14.0; M 1 –M 4 (crowns), 17.15; C 1 –C 1 breadth (alveoli), 11.8; M 3 –M 3 breadth (crowns), 24.6. Mandible: Dentary length (from condyl.), 65.2; P 1 –P 3 (cingl.), 11.5; M 1 –M 4 (crowns), 18.3.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Extract of page 9 of MAMU 1890s Catalogue showing representative level of data recorded for each specimen.

FIGURE 5. Skin mount of M.471, adult male, suspected syntype of Perameles macroura var. torosus Ramsay, 1877a [= Isoodon macrourus torosus]. Scale bar = 2 cm. (© Chau Chak Wing Museum, photo Robert Blackburn 2016).

FIGURE 6. Tags associated with skin mount MAMU M.471 andmatched skull MAMU M.1153, suspected syntype of Perameles macroura var. torosus Ramsay, 1877a [= Isoodon macrourus torosus]. A and B, both sides of skull tag thought to have originated from the AM in the 1920s; C, AM metal tag from the 1920s; and D, MAMU tag attached when skull registered in the 1960s (© Chau Chak Wing Museum, photo Robert Blackburn 2016).

FIGURE 7. Skull and mandible of M.1153, suspected match to skin mount M.471, suspected syntype of Perameles macroura var. torosus Ramsay, 1877a [= Isoodon macrourus torosus]. Scale bar = 1 cm. (© Chau Chak Wing Museum, photo Robert Blackburn 2016).