Perameles moresbyensis Ramsay, 1877a

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 : 316-318

Perameles moresbyensis Ramsay, 1877a

Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (ser. 1) 2(1): 14. (July 1877).

Common name. Northern Brown Bandicoot.

Current name. Isoodon macrourus moresbyensis ( Ramsay, 1877a) , following Groves (2005c).

Syntype. M.2554, by subsequent determination. Male, skull ( Fig. 17 ) and skin mount, re-registered in March 1915 from the “old collection”, but previous registration number (if any) or previous registration date not indicated.

Condition. Cranium missing rear of braincase including occipitals and much of the parietals; missing left zygomatic arch, missing posterior end of left auditory bulla, hole in the left maxilla through part of the palate, teeth are reinforced with glue; both dentaries complete. Skin mount missing tail tip, missing right ear tip, hole in the side of left hind leg, fur on the ventral surface appears to have been glued on.

Cranial measurements (mm). M.2554: GL, —; NasL, 31.62; NasB, 8.06; UC1–C1 (alv.), 11.30; APV, 7.19; PAL, 46.85; UPM (alv.), 4.01; UMR (alv.), 15.45; ZG, —; POC, 11.60; BUL, 13.29 (right side bulla); MB, 25.07; DL (angl.), 62.05; DL (condyl.), 61.30; LPM (alv.), 3.67; LMR (alv.), 16.21.

Type locality. Port Moresby area, Central Province, Papua New Guinea.

Comments. Ramsay states that “the animal examined was full grown, but young”. Although a single specimen is implied, it is not possible to determine from the original description if he examined other specimens, perhaps belonging to other collectors, but omitted the collector’s name in the original account, and in the M Register. The dentition of M.2554 is inconsistent with Ramsay’s description in that the third lower premolar appears to be smaller, not larger, than the lower canine. Dental and external measurements of M.2554 broadly concur with those given by Ramsay, taking into account the uncertainty of how some measurements were made and whether or not skin measurements were taken before the specimen was prepared as a mount. However, our impression is that M.2554 is a larger animal than that measured by Ramsay, e.g., hind foot length taken from nail to heel is c. 3 inches (vs 2.5). We have not yet been able to trace the provenance of this specimen prior to its registration in 1915. However, Thomas (1888a: 235) stated that the type was in the “Sydney Museum” (as opposed to the Macleay Museum).

Although included in his paper on mammals of the 1875 Chevert Expedition ( Ramsay, 1877a), material of this taxon was most likely obtained soon after the Expedition. Macleay (1875) states that several members of the Chevert crew had left the Expedition which ended at Yule Island, with the aim of collecting in the Port Moresby district.

Figures

Figure 17. AM M.2554, syntype skull of Perameles moresbyensis Ramsay, 1877a. (Photography by Stuart Humphreys).