Antechinus flavipes subsp. leucogaster, Gray

Dyck, Steve Van, 2014, The Black-tailed Antechinus, Antechinus arktos sp. nov.: a new species of carnivorous marsupial from montane regions of the Tweed Volcano caldera, eastern Australia, Zootaxa 3765 (2), pp. 101-133 : 116-117

(10) A. arktos versus A. flavipes leucogaster Gray

Pelage: A. arktos has a brownish-grey head that changes markedly to an orange-brown rump, fuscous black hindfeet, a thick-based, finely-furred, black tail and an orange-yellow eye and cheek patch; A. f. leucogaster has marked yellowish-brown fur on the hands, feet and tail base and a pale eyering.

External Measurements: A. arktos is significantly larger than A. f. leucogaster in tv and hf for males and females, and in wt and hb for males ( Table 5).

Craniodental Characters: A. arktos is significantly smaller than A. flavipes leucogaster in R-LM 2 for males and females. A. arktos is larger than A. f. leucogaster in absolute measurement for a range of craniodental measures in males and females: APV, BL, Dent, IBW, IOW, PPV, PL, TC, NWR, PML, UML, HT-B, I 1 -P 3, LML, I 1 -P 3 and UPL. A. arktos is significantly larger than A. f. leucogaster in males and females for HT ( Table 5).

Other Comments: A. arktos occur in south-east Qld and north-east NSW in areas of high elevation and rainfall on the Tweed Volcano caldera, whereas A. f. leucogaster only occurs on the other side of the continent, in southwest Western Australia. Genetics: Uncorrected pairwise range differences at the mitochondrial gene CytB between A. arktos and A. f. leucogaster are 11.4–12.8%.