Thetomys gracilicaudatus ultra Troughton, 1939

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 : 379

Thetomys gracilicaudatus ultra Troughton, 1939

Rec. Aust. Mus. 20(4): 281. (31 March 1939).

Common name. Eastern Chestnut Mouse.

Current name. Pseudomys gracilicaudatus ultra ( Troughton, 1939) . Subspecific status recognized by some recent authors, but not by others, see Jackson & Groves (2015) who synonymize it with typical Pseudomys gracilicaudatus ( Gould, 1845) .

Holotype. M.6407 by original designation. Female adult, skull, study skin, registered January 1938, presented by Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (Queensland Department of Agriculture ).

Condition. Cranium complete; both dentaries missing coronoid processes. Study skin, missing tail tip.

Type locality. The “cane field area at Mackay” (Troughton), north coastal Qld, Australia.

Paratypes. (5, by subsequent determination). Details as per holotype: M.6405, male, skull, study skin; M.6406, male, skull, body in alc.; M.6408–10, all three are females, all skulls, bodies in alc.

Comments. Troughton indicates that the holotype was one of six specimens from the Mackay area presented by the then Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations. He gave the registration number of the holotype but does not make specific reference to an allotype or paratypes. Mahoney & Posamentier (1975: 335) recognize six specimens in the type series, citing registration numbers M6405–10. There are only six specimens of this taxon registered from Mackay, all presented by the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations during 1938 and these are assumed to be the type series. The AM mammal type card index has two cards written in Troughton’s handwriting: M.6405 marked as holotype then crossed out, and M.6407, originally marked allotype, then crossed out and changed to holotype. The remaining four specimens are not labelled as paratypes in Troughton’s hand, either in the register, type card index, or on specimen labels but are recognized as paratypes on the basis that they are the only specimens with matching data in the register and likely to be the remainder of the series available to Troughton in preparation of his account .