Phascolarctos cinereus victor Troughton, 1935a

Parnaby, Harry E., Ingleby, Sandy & Divljan, Anja, 2017, Type Specimens of Non-fossil Mammals in the Australian Museum, Sydney, Records of the Australian Museum 69 (5), pp. 277-420 : 320

Phascolarctos cinereus victor Troughton, 1935a

Aust. Naturalist. 9(6): 139. (September 1935).

Common name. Koala.

Current name. Phascolarctos cinereus ( Goldfuss, 1817) . Most recent authors assume that previously recognized subspecies of the koala represent clinal variation, see Jackson & Groves (2015). Neaves et al. (2016) did not find support for a Victorian subspecies.

Holotype. M.5732 by original designation. [Adult male], skull, study skin ( Figs 20–21 ), from Victoria, presented by Noel Burnet , registered in September 1934. Collection date not recorded. Original wooden tag contains the word “Booral” but there is no entry for locality, either in the register, or on the holotype specimen index card.

Condition. Cranium missing both upper 2nd and 3rd incisors and 1st post-canine teeth, missing right upper canine, drilled wire holes in temporal bones and condyles; right dentary appears calcified (remodeled) underneath the last post-canine tooth. Study skin missing left top lip, ear tips torn (fur sparse around the ear tips).

Cranial measurements (mm). M.5732: GL, 159.34; ConL, 152.30; BasL, 144.83; NasL, 42.71; NasB, 43.36; UC1–C1 (alv.), 16.58; DIL, 24.80; APV, 5.63; PPV, 9.05; PAL, 77.63; UPM (alv.), 7.92; UMR (alv.), 28.09; ZB, 90.23; POC, 30.55; MB, 64.95; DL (angl.), 119.10; DL (condyl.), 116.78; LPM (alv.), 5.82; LMR (alv.), 33.11.

Type locality. We suggest that the type locality is Koala Sanctuary, French Island, Victoria. The type locality has generally been cited simply as Victoria, reflecting confusion about a more precise location. McKay (1988a) lists the type locality as “Booral”, Victoria without further comment but presumably on the assumption that the label refers to a collecting locality. We have been unable to locate a place name of “Booral” in Victoria. Instead, we located evidence that Booral was the name of a captive male koala: “Booral and Burrendong” were a pair of koalas sent in early 1930 to Noel Burnet at Koala Park, Sydney, as a gift from the Victorian Government, from the French Island Sanctuary ( Williams, 1931). The caption of a photograph of Noel Burnet, head of Koala Park, holding a koala states: “The photo shows the author with “Booral,” the largest koala in the establishment” ( Burnet, 1932: 29). That image shows a clear frontal view of the snout area and hirsute ears; cited as diagnostic criteria in Troughton’s account. Further evidence derives from the etching titled “Booral (The Roue of Koala Park)” by artist Squire Morgan, dated c. 1932.

? Paratype. M.4841, male, skull, study skin, from French Island , Victoria, registered at the AM on 13 February 1930, received from South Australian Museum , previously SAM M.2443.

Comments. In his original description Troughton mentions two specimens only, “The holotype male, M. 5732 in the Museum collection, and a young male received from French Island in 1930 …”. No specimen marked as paratype has been located in the collection but M.4841 is a likely candidate, despite the absence of any designation as such on its original skull and skin tags. Nevertheless, it is a young animal as indicated by an incompletely erupted M3 and small body size. Troughton did not give the sex or locality of the holotype and indicated that he was providing a preliminary diagnosis ahead of a more detailed account being prepared for “a popular work”—presumably his book ( Troughton, 1941). It is possible that Troughton was unaware of the origin of the holotype sent to the AM from Burnet’s Koala Park in Sydney; alternatively, he might have been aware that both specimens were from French Island and overlooked the ambiguity of his original statement.

Figures

Figure 20. AM M.5732, holotype skin of Phascolarctos cinereus victor Troughton, 1935a. (Photography by Sally Cowan).

Figure 21. AM M.5732, holotype skull of Phascolarctos cinereus victor Troughton, 1935a. (Photography by Stuart Humphreys).