Antechinus flavipes subsp. rubeculus (Van Dyck, 1982)

Baker, Andrew M. & Dyck, Steve Van, 2013, Taxonomy and redescription of the Yellow-footed Antechinus, Antechinus flavipes (Waterhouse) (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae), Zootaxa 3649 (1), pp. 1-62 : 51

(8) A. flavipes rubeculus versus A. minimus

Pelage: A. flavipes rubeculus tends to reddish colour on the rump and flanks whereas A.minimus is yellowish on the rump and flanks. A. flavipes rubeculus has finer (less coarse) fur than A. minimus .

External measurements: A. f. rubeculus is smaller than A. minimus in absolute measurement (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) for no external measurements as far as we know. A. f. rubeculus is significantly larger than A.minimus for tail-vent length and hind foot length in males and in tail-vent length for females (Table 6).

Skull: A. f. rubeculus differs from A. minimus in absolute measurement (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) for the following skull/dentary characters in males: larger IPV, M 2 W, R-LC 1, R-LM 1, R-LM 1 T, SWR-LC 1 B, UML, LML, M 2 W and smaller I 1 -P 3, and in females: larger IPV, M 2 W, R-LC 1, R-LM 1 T, R-LM 3, ZW, SWR-LC 1 B, UML, BuL, LML and M 2 W. A. f. rubeculus has numerous other dentary features that significantly (p<0.01) differ from A. minimus —7 variables for males and 11 for females, as shown in Table 6.

Other Comments: A. f. rubeculus is found only in the wet tropics of north-east Queensland, whereas A. minimus is known from coastal Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. Genetics: uncorrected pairwise range differences at the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome B (CytB) between A. f. rubeculus and A. minimus are 14.7– 15.2%.