Podabrus albocaudatus Krefft, 1872

Parnaby, Harry, Ingleby, Sandy & Divljan, Anja, 2015, Taxonomic status of Podabrus albocaudatus Krefft, 1872 and declaration of Sminthopsis granulipes Troughton, 1932 (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) as a protected name for the White-tailed Dunnart from Western Australia, Zootaxa 3904 (2), pp. 283-292 : 284

The forgotten Podabrus albocaudatus Krefft, 1872

Gerard Krefft published popular accounts on Australian zoology in a long series of articles under the general title “Natural History” in The Sydney Mail, a leading daily newspaper of the late 19th century. This included seven articles titled “The Dasyuridae ” published from 12 October to 30 November, 1872. One such article ( Krefft 1872) included his original description of Podabrus albocaudatus in which he enumerates all known species of Podabrus , a generic name erected by Gould (1845). However, Thomas (1887) proposed the replacement name Sminthopsis , as he recognised that Podabrus had been applied to a genus of beetles by Westwood (1840), thus predating Gould. In his original account, Krefft (1872) did not include illustrations or measurements of Podabrus albocaudatus , and his text, reproduced in its entirety, is:

“White-tailed Podabrus ( Podabrus albocaudatus ). This new species was obtained at King George’s Sound by Mr. Maxwell, the well known collector. Only one specimen was secured, so that I was unable to sacrifice it for a close examination of the teeth. The colour is the usual mouse grey, fur very soft, and the tail slightly incrassated in the middle, and covered with white hairs.”

Krefft (1872) states that his only specimen of Podabrus albocaudatus was obtained by Mr Maxwell, who is likely to be Mr George Maxwell (c. 1805–1879); Whittell 1954) who resided at King George Sound (=Albany) until his death. Maxwell was known primarily as a collector of botanical and entomological specimens, but he operated a store on the jetty, from which he sold natural history specimens to fund his collecting sojourns (Heberle undated). Maxwell could have sold or donated the specimen to George Masters, then employed as a collector for the AM, who collected specimens at King George Sound and adjoining regions during two visits, 1866 ( Krefft 1867) and 1868–69 (AM Archive document C:40.69.13). Another possibility is that Maxwell sent the specimen to Krefft, either directly, or via botanical collectors from Melbourne, such as visits from von Mueller in the late 1860’s ( Mueller 1880).

We are not aware of any published citation of albocaudatus Krefft , either as a valid name, synonym, nomen nudum or as a name incertae sedis, other than the oblique reference to an unpublished register entry by Troughton (1932) (see below), who did not cite the actual name, and a single listing by Whitley (1969: 40), who simply lists “ Podabrus albocaudatus , sp.n. ” but without comment on the taxonomic status. The taxon is not listed in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System database (ITIS 2014), or in any of the major taxonomic works or checklists of marsupials published since Krefft’s description ( Thomas 1888; Cabrera 1919; Iredale & Troughton 1934; Tate 1947; Troughton 1965; Archer 1981; Mahoney & Ride 1988; Groves 2005).

We regard Krefft’s description to be both validly published under Article 8 of the Code, and an available name under Article 12.1, i.e. it is not a nomen nudum. In his diagnosis of Sminthopsis granulipes, Troughton (1932) contrasted the sparse, white hairs of the tail of his new species, which he described as being “quite different” to the bluish-grey, denser bristles of the tail of Sminthopsis crassicaudata (Gould) , the only other species referred to in his diagnosis. Consequently, he regarded the white tail hairs, also mentioned in Krefft’s description, to be a diagnostic feature. Although Krefft’s brief description is based solely on external criteria, it nevertheless included criteria adequate to differentiate it from other taxa, namely the white tail or tail hairs. Other diagnostic criteria cited by Troughton (1932) for distinguishing S. granulipes from S. crassicaudata include ear shape, skull size and robustness, the shorter pes of the former species, and the structure of the manus and pes, particularly the finer granulations of manus and pes of S. granulipes . Krefft, who had presumably examined the holotype as a fresh specimen, focused on its striking tail colouration as indicated by his proposed vernacular name of White-tailed Podabrus , also reflected by its current name of White-tailed Dunnart. Troughton, aware that the holotype was an old, potentially faded specimen and the only one known at that time, placed more reliance on foot pad morphology, upon which he based his specific name, and for which he later proposed the vernacular name Granule-footed Sminthopsis ( Iredale & Troughton 1934; Troughton 1941).