Mammal type specimens in the Macleay Collections, University of Sydney
Author
Parnaby, Harry
Mammalogy, Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William St, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.
Author
Gill, Anthony C.
0000-0002-8990-3657
Macleay Collections, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University Avenue, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Anthony. c. gill @ sydney. edu. au; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 8990 - 3657 & Ichthyology, Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, NSW 2010.
nthony.c.gill@sydney.edu.au
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-05-25
4975
2
201
252
journal article
6170
10.11646/zootaxa.4975.2.1
b98c5a41-914b-4398-8dca-2cf9b36d1817
1175-5326
4806677
6EB83A89-CC46-4F4E-99D5-B180A4677B7A
Cuscus chrysorrhous
var.
goldiei
Ramsay, 1877b
Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W.
(ser. 1) 1 (4), 395. (
March 1877
).
Description read at the
27th December 1876
meeting of the LSNSW.
Current name.
Common Spotted
Cuscus
Spilocuscus maculatus goldiei
(Ramsay, 1877)
, following
Helgen & Jackson (2015)
.
Taxonomic status.
Recognised as a subspecies of
S. maculatus
(
Geoffroy, 1803
)
since
Tate (1945)
, who treated
chrysorrhous
Temminck, 1824
and
goldiei
as subspecies of
maculatus
. Although occasionally recognised as a valid species in the early 20th century, most authors prior to
Tate (1945)
did not recognise the validity of
goldiei
, even as a subspecies.
Helgen & Flannery (2004)
suggested that
goldiei
could be a distinct species but refrained from elevating it to species rank pending further research. The taxonomy of
Spilocuscus maculatus
remains problematic and several species might be involved (
Helgen & Jackson 2015
). Until recently the generic name
Phalanger
was used for many cuscus species including
maculatus
.
TABLE 10
. Measurements (mm) of
Brachymelis garagassi
Miklouho-Maclay, 1884b
[=
Echymipera kalubu
(Lesson, 1828
)], taken from his plate 38 of an original, unbound copy of the journal.
Measurement
|
fig. 1 head
|
fig. 2 skull & jaw, lateral
|
fig. 3 palate
|
fig. 4 jaw, dorsal
|
fig. 6 pes
|
Cranium
|
Length of tooth row, I1 to M4 |
38 |
37.5 |
Length of I1 to I4 (crowns) |
4.5 |
Length of I1 to I4 (enamel) |
5.5 |
Anterior of I1 to C1 |
10.5 |
11 |
Outside breadth C1 to C1 |
8.5 |
Length of M1 to M4 |
11.5 |
12 |
Outside breadth M3 to M3 |
15.5 |
Mandible
|
Length of I1 to I3 (crowns) |
4.5 |
4 |
Length of tooth row I 1 to M 4 |
40.5 |
40 |
Length of M 1 to M 4
External
|
14 |
14 |
Ear length (from notch) |
25 |
Right pes length (without claw) |
56 |
Type
locality
. “
Port Moresby district
” (
Ramsay
),
Central Province
,
Papua New Guinea
.
Comments.
Ramsay stated that his description was based on
two females
only, obtained by Goldie “in the previous year”. One
syntype
is in the AM but the remaining
syntype
has not been reported in the literature and was not listed in the unpublished checklist of mammal types by
Troughton (1956)
. In the introductory remarks of his paper, which mainly dealt with bird specimens,
Ramsay (1877b)
stated that he examined material brought to Sydney by Goldie. We have not determined whether he purchased all of the material or whether Goldie subsequently dispersed the collection to several buyers, which could have included Macleay. An adult female skin without a skull (PA.543) in the AM could be one of the
syntypes
and is distinctly smaller than the body dimensions of the
one specimen
given by Ramsay (see
Parnaby
et al.
2017
). The remaining
syntype
might remain unrecognised in the AM Collection as a specimen without data or was exchanged to another institution without adequate documentation. While it is possible that Ramsay’s second specimen might be in the MAMU, to date we have not found any evidence. The MAMU 1890s Catalogue does not mention “
goldiei
” and the only adult female specimens listed under “
Phalanger maculatus
”
from
Port Moresby
are three skins in “brine”. A re-appraisal of species identification of MAMU cuscus specimens by a taxonomic specialist remains an important step in the search for the missing
syntype
.