Type Specimens of Non-fossil Mammals in the Australian Museum, Sydney
Author
Parnaby, Harry E.
Author
Ingleby, Sandy
Author
Divljan, Anja
text
Records of the Australian Museum
2017
2017-10-06
69
5
277
420
http://dx.doi.org/10.3853/j.2201-4349.69.2017.1653
journal article
10.3853/j.2201-4349.69.2017.1653
2201-4349
5237800
68F315FF-3FEB-410E-96EC-5F494510F440
Dendrolagus deltae
Troughton & Le Souef, 1936a
Aust. Zool.
8(3): 195. (
29 June 1936
).
Common name
. Huon Tree-kangaroo.
Current name
.
Dendrolagus matschiei
Förster & Rothschild, 1907
; following
Groves (2005d)
.
Holotype
. M.5418 by original designation. Male, skull, study skin, no locality data entered in M Register, presented by Taronga Zoo Trust, registered
4 December 1933
.
Condition
. Cranium missing both upper canines, the deformed third upper left incisor has overgrown the socket of the missing 2nd upper incisor; cranium in good condition. Both dentaries complete. Whole study skin complete and in good condition. Deformed and overgrown nail of digit 5 of right pes.
Type
locality
.
“Region of Mt Pratt, in the north-eastern area of the Delta Division of Papua” (Troughton & Le Souef, 1936a: 195). Locality data considered erroneous by Kirsch & Calaby (1977).
Groves (1982)
also rejected Mt Pratt as the origin of the
type
material, which he believed came from the Huon Peninsula.
Helgen
et al.
(2011: 250)
discussed this entity at length and concluded that Mt Pratt could be an eastern outlier of Mt Bosavi,
Southern Highlands Province
,
PNG
.
Paratype
. M.5420 by original designation. Female subadult, skull, flat skin, “New
Guinea
” (M Register), registered
3 January 1934
, presented by Taronga Zoo Trust, Sydney.
Comments
. Description based on
two specimens
. The collection date and collectors of these specimens were unknown to Troughton and Le Souef, who stated that “both specimens were from the region of Mt Pratt, in the northeastern area of the Delta Division of
Papua
” and were obtained “doubtless through the co-operation of Papuan authorities”. Troughton regarded
deltae
to be a doubtful species based on erroneous locality data provided by Le Souef for zoo animals, as indicated by his handwritten comments on a copy of the published paper, as reported by Kirsch & Calaby (1977). The
AM
Mammal section library has a reprint of Troughton & Le Souef (1936a) on which Troughton has used a
type
writer to add a footnote on the first page: “Note:
Dendrolagus spadix
is recognized as valid, but
D. deltae
remains uncertain owing to the doubtful locality provided for Zoo specimens by co-author Le Souef. The marked interorbital inflation indicates that deltae may be a race of
goodfellowi
, pending examination of an overall series of that species. E.Le.G.T.”.