Murexia rothschild, Tate, 1938

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2015, Dasyuridae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 5 Monotremes and Marsupials, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 232-348 : 323-324

43.

Broad-striped Dasyure

Murexia rothschild

French: Murexie rayée / German: Rothschild-Neuguinea-Beutelmaus / Spanish: Dasiuro de banda ancha

Other common names: Short-haired Marsupial Mouse

Taxonomy. Murexia rothschildi Tate, 1938 ,

head of Aroa River, 8° 50° S, 147° 06’ E, about 1220 m, Central Prov., Papua New Guinea.

Acceptance of the trans-Torresian distribution of Antechinus prevailed until P. A. Woolley’s research in 1984 concerning male phallic morphology; it showed a dubious relationship between Australian and New Guinean members of Antechinus . Antechinus in Australia, meanwhile, was no longer considered monophyletic, including what is now classify as Dasykaluta rosamondae , Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis , P. ningbing , P. bilarni , and Parantechinus apicalis .

Later work clarified species applicable to “antechinus” of New Guinea ( melanurus , habbema, and naso ), showing that New Guinean species deserved generic reclassification; their inclusion in Antechinus was evidently inappropriate. DNA hybridization and albumin immunology studies confirmed the closer relationship among New Guinean species than with Australian Antechinus . Direct DNA work then suggested that New Guinean taxa were sister to Australian antechinuses. In 2002, S. Van Dyck’s rigorous morphological study of Australian and New Guinean “antechinuses” concluded that New Guinean taxa assigned to Antechinus (pre-1984) represented three related but morphologically primitive taxa that lacked clear signs of relationship. They were thus allocated to five genera. Monotypic Micromurexia (habbema), Phascomurexia ( naso ), and Muvrexechinus ( melanurus ) were all only distantly related to Australian antechinuses. New Guinea Murexia was also rendered monotypic ( M. longicaudata ); morphologically, this taxon was viewed as having no especially close relationship with the more derived rothschildi , which was thus assigned to Paramurexia . Based on morphology, Australian Antechinus appeared to be monophyletic with Phascogale . Nevertheless, in the last decade, there have been further DNA sequencing studies that consistently recover monophyly of Murexia with respect to other Phascogalines, Australian genera Antechinus and Phascogale , with uncertain status of the sister relationships among the three. This is now the prevailing view, so a single genus ( Murexia ) for New Guinean fauna is cautiously adopted here. Taxonomy of the striking M. rothschildi is relatively uneventful. Early specimens were collected by A. S. Meek in 1905 and then bolstered by private collections, but today there are still only c.16 specimens in total that are housed in museums. Broad-striped Dasyures were named after Lord W. Rothschild, who in 1937 generously permitted G. H. H. Tate to borrow specimens held in the Tring Museum for description. Unfortunately, Rothschild died shortly thereafter, before the species bearing his name was published in 1938. It is interesting that O. Thomas missed describing this distinctive species because it was the fashion of Rothschild to invite him to describe mammals taken by many collectors under his employment; Thomas had already described an impressive list of them between 1886 and 1926. For whatever reason, M. rothschildi was overlooked by Thomas and fell to Tate for description. Monotypic.

Distribution. SE New Guinea, endemic to the S side of SE Peninsula ranges.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 13-17 cm (males) and 12.4-13 cm (females), tail 14— 18-4 cm (males) and 15.2-17 cm (females); weight 32-102 g (males) and 40-485 g (females). The Broad-striped Dasyure has a broad, black, dorsal body stripe that commences at nose and terminates at base of tail. The Broad-striped Dasyure is closest in size and external appearance to the Narrow-striped Dasyure ( Phascolosorex dorsalis ), from which it can be distinguished by its paler color and generally sleeker fur. Single back stripe is much broader than in any other dasyurid.

Habitat. Hill forest to lower montane mature tropical moist forest at elevations of 600-1400 m.

Food and Feeding. Little is known about the diet and foraging habits of the Broadstriped Dasyure. One specimen in the National Wildlife Collection, Canberra, was taken out of a mist-net set to capture birds in primary forest at 600 m in elevation at Opanabu, Milne Bay Province. It seems likely the individual became entangled after being attracted by trapped birds. There is a photograph of an individual captured in a mist-net set for birds at Efogi, Central Province. Broad-striped Dasyures have been caught in Sherman and snap traps baited with peanut butter and oatmeal in one case and raw meat and beetle larvae in other cases.

Breeding. In one study of seven (two male and five female) wild-caught Broad-striped Dasyures, juveniles, adults, and a lactating female were all captured in January. An earlier study of museum specimens indicated that pregnant and lactating females were also caught in December and March. One litter was successfully bred in captivity after 43 attempted pairings and two observed copulations lasting 0-5-1-5 hours. Female Broad-striped Dasyures had four nipples, mothers carried four young, pregnancy lasted c.20 days, and lactation lasted 3-5 months. Male Broad-striped Dasyures have no sternal glands and scrotal widths of c.15 mm. Males mature at c.10 months and females at 9-10 months.

Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Broad-striped Dasyure is ground dwelling, scansorial, and probably mostly nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. The Broadstriped Dasyure occurs in less than 20,000 km?, and it is known from fewer than ten locations. It is experiencing continuing decline in quality and extent of its habitat. The Broad-striped Dasyure has a restricted distribution and is most likely uncommon, being known from only c¢.23 wild-caught specimens. The Broad-striped Dasyure has been caught at six near-coastal localities in the south-eastern tip of Papua New Guinea. It was suggested that during the 1904-1905 expedition where the holotype and paratype of the Broad-striped Dasyure were collected, A. S. Meek actually collected along the Dilava River and not the Aroa River; however, both the Dilava and Aroa rivers have their headwaters just south of Mount Tafa and conjoin c.10 km from the coast. Two specimens are known from the Aroa River, four from the north-eastern slopes of Mount Simpson, two from Mount Mura, and two from Opanabu. There are also five specimens from the Agaun area, Milne Bay Province, in the Australian Museum. The Broad-striped Dasyure is threatened by habitat loss through conversion of forest to cultivated land and predation by domestic hunting dogs. A nickel mine has been proposed within the distribution of the Broad-striped Dasyure and oil palm plantations are replacing rural gardens and expanding into new areas. Broad-striped Dasyures are not known from any protected areas. Further studies are needed to clarify distribution, abundance, natural history, and threats to the Broad-striped Dasyure.

Bibliography. Armstrong et al. (1998), Flannery (1995a), Grossek et al. (2010), Groves (2005a), Helgen (2007a, 2007b), Helgen & Opiang (2011), Krajewski, Torunsky et al. (2007), Krajewski, Wroe & Westerman (2000), Krajewski, Young et al. (1997), Leary, Seri, Wright, Hamilton, Helgen, Singadan, Menzies, Allison, James, Dickman, Lunde, Aplin & Woolley (2008c), Menzies (1991), Tate (1938, 1947), Van Dyck (2002), Woolley (1984b, 1989, 2003).

Figures

On following pages: 41. Short-furred Dasyure (Murexia longicaudata); 42. Broad-striped Dasyure (Murexia rothschildi); 43. Long-nosed Dasyure (Murexia naso); 44. Red-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale calura); 45. Northern Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale pirata); 46. Common Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa); 47. Giles's Planigale (Planigale giles); 48. Long-tailed Planigale (Planigale ingrami); 49. Common Planigale (Planigale maculata); 50. Papuan Planigale (Planigale novaeguineae); 51. Narrow-nosed Planigale (Planigale tenuirostris); 52. Wongai Ningaui (Ningauiride); 53. Pilbara Ningaui (Ningaui timealeyi); 54. Southern Ningaui (Ningaui yvonneae); 55. Kultarr (Antechinomys laniger).

Distribution. SE New Guinea, endemic to the S side of SE Peninsula ranges.