Planigale kendricki Aplin, Cooper, Travouillon & Umbrello, 2023

Umbrello, Linette S., Cooper, Norah K., Adams, Mark, Travouillon, Kenny J., Baker, Andrew M., Westerman, Mike & Aplin, Ken P., 2023, Hiding in plain sight: two new species of diminutive marsupial (Dasyuridae: Planigale) from the Pilbara, Australia, Zootaxa 5330 (1), pp. 1-46 : 24-25

Planigale kendricki Aplin, Cooper, Travouillon & Umbrello sp. nov.

( Fig. 10–13 , Tables 2 , 4 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DCFFF2D7-37E8-4DB1-BE82-E4DC10ADCF2D

Formerly referred to as ‘ Planigale 1’ by the following authors: Blacket et al. (2000) and Westerman et al. (2016), and Planigale sp. 1 by Gibson & McKenzie (2009) and Umbrello et al. (2020).

Holotype. WAM M41812 : subadult male with incompletely erupted P 3; Barlee Range Nature Reserve, Western Australia, 23°23’21” S, 115°53’12” E. Collected by P. Kendrick, 13 th June 1994. Spirit and skull. Liver tissue, ABTC61747 . Specimen located in the Western Australian Museum Mammal collection, Welshpool , Western Australia.

Paratypes. WAM M15160 : adult male, Mt Bruce , Western Australia, 22°38’15” S, 118°08’00” E (note: this location is now the Marandoo mine site). Collected by J. Burt, 2 nd February 1976. Spirit and skull . WAM M25773 , adult female, Karlamilyi National Park , Western Australia, 22°18’51” S, 122°03’19” E. Collected by R. Hart , 18 April 1986. Spirit and skull . WAM M51581 : adult female, Mandora , Western Australia, 19°47’52” S, 121°26’52” E. Collected by P. Kendrick, 18 th October 1999. Spirit and skull. Liver tissue, ABTC97502 ; ABTC161754 .

Etymology. Named in honour of Dr Peter Kendrick, in recognition of his major contribution to the understanding of the vertebrate fauna of north-western Australia.

Material examined. See Table 1 for a list of all Planigale kendricki specimens examined in this study, referred to as Planigale 1 in the table.

Diagnosis. Planigale kendricki ( Fig. 10 ) is more rufous than all other members of the genus except perhaps some individuals of P. ingrami . It is substantially larger than each of P. ingrami , P. tenuirostris and P. sp. Mt Tom Price, and smaller than P. novaeguineae and P. gilesi . It is most similar in body size to some populations of P. maculata but differs from all populations of this taxon in its brighter dorsal and facial patterning. Craniodentally, it differs from all other Planigale species except P. tenuirostris in having more elongate nasals that invade deeply between the frontals. It further differs from typical P. maculata , and P. novaeguineae in having a more depressed cranium, a longer and narrower snout, and larger entoconids on M 1–3. It further differs from P. gilesi in having three upper premolars (reduced to two in P. gilesi ). It also differs from P. tenuirostris in having less reduced M 1–4 protocones and less reduced entoconids on M 1–3 (usually absent on M 1–2 in P. tenuirostris ).

Figures

FIGURE 10. Photo of Planigale kendricki sp. nov. courtesy of R. Teale. Note the rufous, orange-tan colouration of the fur and the orange eye ring.

FIGURE 11. Pes of typical A) Planigale kendricki (WAM M51793), and B) Planigale sp. Mt Tom Price (WAM M64697), note relative size difference of pes, shape and placement of apical pads between the species.

FIGURE 12. Planigale kendricki holotype (WAM M41812) cranium in ventral (A), dorsal (C), posterior (D) and lateral (E) views, and dentary in occlusal (B) and buccal (F) views. Note deep u-shape of posterior nasal suture in C and extreme dorsoventral flattening of braincase in D and E.

FIGURE 13. Upper and lower dentition of Planigale kendricki (WAM M41812, holotype) from canine to M4. A) upper and B) lower dentition in occlusal view. Abbreviations: acid, anterior cingulid; alci, anterolabial cingulum; ecf, ectoflexus; encd, entoconid; hycd, hypoconid; hycld, hypoconulid; mec, metacone; mecd, metaconid; pac, paracone; pacd, paraconid; pcid, posterior cingulid; prc, protocone; prcd, protoconid; stA, stylar cusp B; stB, stylar cusp B; stD, stylar cusp D.