Antechinus flavipes subsp. flavipes, flavipes

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 : 13

(1) A. flavipes flavipes versus A. flavipes leucogaster

Pelage: A. flavipes flavipes differs from A. flavipes leucogaster in being more richly coloured. A. flavipes flavipes has medium orange-yellow tonings on the rump, flanks and tail base, whereas A. flavipes leucogaster is drabber, generally with orange tonings replaced with fawn-browns; the belly is a dirty white and tail is dark orange along its upper length and markedly pale on its underside.

External measurements: There are no significant differences in external measurements between A. f. flavipes and A. f. leucogaster ( Table 2).

Skull: A. f. flavipes differs from A. f. leucogaster in absolute measurement (i.e., with no overlap in ranges) for no skull/dentary characters as far as we know. However, A. f. flavipes has several dentary features that significantly (p<0.01) differ from A. f. leucogaster —4 variables for males and females, as shown in Table 2.

Other Comments: A. f. flavipes females have 10–14 pouch nipples, whereas A. f. leucogaster females have 8– 10 pouch nipples. A. f. flavipes is found in south-eastern Australia, across 4 states: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, whereas A. f. leucogaster is restricted to south-western Western Australia. Genetics: uncorrected pairwise range differences at the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome B (CytB) between A. f. flavipes and A. f. leucogaster are 6.4–7.1%.