Zaglossus bartoni clunius Thomas and Rothschild, 1922

T. F. Flannery & C. P. Groves, 1998, A revision of the genus Zaglossus (Monotremata, Tachyglossidae), with description of new species and subspecies, Mammalia 62 (3), pp. 367-396 : 382-383

Zaglossus bartoni clunius Thomas and Rothschild, 1922

Holotype: BMNH 28.10.1.33, an adult female skin and skull from the Rawlinson Mountains, Huon Peninsula.

Diagnosis: A small Zaglossus which invariably has five claws on each foot. Significantly larger than Z. b. smeenki in all dimensions except RBR and IOW. It is significantly smaller than Z. b. bartoni (at 0.05) in BIMAST, RH and PAL. The beak is shorter relative to the braincase than in Z. b. bartoni . It is significantly smaller (at 0.05) than Z. b. diamondi in CBL, BZW, BIMAST, RBR, RH, PAL and B.

Distribution: The mountains of the Huon Peninsula ( Fig. 1). Specimens collected by Van Deusen during the Seventh Archbold Expedition came from elevations of between about 2,100 m and 2,700 metres in the Saruwaged Mountains. He reported (in Van Deusen and George 1969) that in this region Zaglossus was “ an inhabitant of humid montane forests that are almost continually blanketed by cloud cover ” (p. 14).

Specimens seen; 12 adult, 1 juvenile skulls, 10 skins.

Description: The fur is long and black. It usually all but obscures the spines in the middle of the back. The spines are white. Colouration seems to be uniform in this subspecies.

Discussion: Zaglossus bartoni clunius is geographically isolated from other Zaglossus by the dry lowlands of the Markham River Valley. The Huon Peninsula is an isolated and mountainous region which is home to a number of other endemic mammalian subspecies, including Mallomys aroaensis hercules , Hyomys goliath strobilurus , Abeomelomys sevia sevia , Pseudochirops corinnae argcnteus , Thylogale browni lanatus and Phalanger carmelitae coccygis . Only one endemic mammal species is known from the Huon: Dendrolagus matschiei .