Marsupial splits

Najade

Najade

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
As I mentioned in my travel-thread earlier I'd be interested to have a discussion about all the more recent marsupial splits and which ones are actually recognized. The one's I can think of off the top of my head would be:

-Brush-tailed Phascogale and Northern Brush-tailed Phascogale
-Broad-toed and Narrow-toed Feathertail Glider
-three species split of Greater Glider according to HMW
-new research (article) on Bandicoots splitting Western Barred into five species and separating Quenda from SB Bandicoot
-Brushtailed Possum (Common, Coppery, Short-eared, Mountain, Northern) according to wiki-article
-Short-eared and Wilkins' Rock-wallaby split

Being that I'm trying to tick species all this makes it quite complicated to stay up to date and it would also affect some of the captive populations (like f.e. which type of Feathertail is there in which zoo etc.). Anyone have any insight or opinions on this?
 
I hadn't heard of the Greater Glider split. I just checked it out and it basically seems to be based on the north-to-south size cline and differences in colour. They have put the tropical Queensland subspecies minor as a full species (Northern Greater Glider P. minor) and then halved volans into Central Greater Glider P. armillatus and Southern Greater Glider P. volans. I imagine it will stick - all the stupid splits based on very little seem to stick nowadays.

The brushtails have all been split for quite a while (although I hadn't realised arnhemensis had been firmly elevated, which everyone seems to now agree on). However it is pretty distinctive compared to the other Trichosurus species so I'm fine with that one.

For your five species of Western Barred Bandicoot - they are all extinct except the one which remains on the Shark Bay islands. They have basically just re-examined the museum specimens from the various mainland populations which now no longer exist.

Western and Eastern Brown Bandicoot is a logical split.

The two Feathertails can really only be identified confidently in the hand - mostly the distinction is in the shape of the toes. I'm not sure what the situation is with the captive population, but it may be mixed - the two species live sympatrically throughout eastern Australia apparently.


Another bandicoot split you may be interested in, the Long-nosed Bandicoot is now Northern pallescens and southern nasuta. I'm not sure where the distribution overlaps (I think it might be quite substantial), but the ones up at Kuranda will be pallescens and obviously the ones down by Sydney or where-ever will be nasuta. The split is a good one based on genetics and dentition.
 
Would all Brushtails up in Darwin be arnhemensis or do they co-occur with Common Brushtails?
I guess I'll have to dig out my Brushtail pic from Territory Wildlife Park...

Hadn't heard about the Long-nose split so that's good to know.

Do we know where the Rock-wallabies at TWP and Perth are from and whether that makes them Short-eared or Wilkins' Rock-wallaby?
 
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Najade said:
I guess I'll have to dig out my Brushtail pic from Territory Wildlife Park...
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The Brushtails in TWP's Nocturnal House are T. arnhemensis, at least when I visited it in 2007.

Trivial fact, Arnhem once kept T. johnstonii but never the Brushtail from Arnhem Land.

Najade said:
Short-eared or Wilkins' Rock-wallaby?
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Which species lives in the Top End? I saw a Short-eared Rock Wallaby in Litchfield, but is it still consider to be a Short-eared?
 
Thanks Chlidonias for your summary. I would like to add that the name “mountain brushtai” is somewhat redundant in that several coastal and flat land populations have been discovered. Southern bobuck is the nominated replacement.

I was told yesterday of an academic who wants to split the Strathbogie Ranges koala off, and is searching for money to do the genetics.
 
These splits are minimal compared to the time when marsupials were classified as several orders instead of just one. A species of 'opossum', the monito del monte, became a member of the Order Microbiotheria. Has this species ever been kept in a zoo?
 
Najade said:
Would all Brushtails up in Darwin be arnhemensis or do they co-occur with Common Brushtails?
I guess I'll have to dig out my Brushtail pic from Territory Wildlife Park...
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Only arnhemensis occur in Darwin, so any you saw wild up there will be this one.
 
MRJ said:
I would like to add that the name “mountain brushtai” is somewhat redundant in that several coastal and flat land populations have been discovered. Southern bobuck is the nominated replacement.
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Mountain Brushtail was always a silly name. Southern Bobuck is much better - although not helpful for anyone who doesn't know what a Bobuck is.
 
Najade said:
Do we know where the Rock-wallabies at TWP and Perth are from and whether that makes them Short-eared or Wilkins' Rock-wallaby?
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According to news reports from the time Perth Zoo obtained their animal, he was from the Kimberley, which makes him a Short-eared Rock Wallaby (brachyotis). I don't know about the ones at TWP.

AWP said:
Which species lives in the Top End? I saw a Short-eared Rock Wallaby in Litchfield, but is it still consider to be a Short-eared?
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The two species have quite distinct ranges. At Litchfield they are Wilkin's Rock Wallabies (wilkinsi).
 
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MRJ said:
I was told yesterday of an academic who wants to split the Strathbogie Ranges koala off, and is searching for money to do the genetics.
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Given the way splitting is going overboard nowadays, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the three former Koala subspecies were revived plus some additional ones.
 
Chlidonias said:
Given the way splitting is going overboard nowadays, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the three former Koala subspecies were revived plus some additional ones.
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Well, the three traditional subspecies have never really fallen by the wayside in order to be revived - as far as I know there is no consensus over the issue of whether they are valid or not, and considering the stark difference between them I'd be willing to accept their validity.

w644


The above photo is from Australia Zoo, which keeps both P. c. victor and P. c. adustus.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Well, the three traditional subspecies have never really fallen by the wayside in order to be revived - as far as I know there is no consensus over the issue of whether they are valid or not, and considering the stark difference between them I'd be willing to accept their validity.

The above photo is from Australia Zoo, which keeps both P. c. victor and P. c. adustus.
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Koalas are just a north-south cline in size. In Australia all collections manage them only as "northern" and "southern" groups (despite what any signage may say), and have done so for a long time. Obviously the two types are not adapted to live in the opposite extremes of the distribution. Really only overseas zoos think they are still separate subspecies.
 
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Chlidonias said:
According to news reports from the time Perth Zoo obtained their animal, he was from the Kimberley, which makes him a Short-eared Rock Wallaby (brachyotis). I don't know about the ones at TWP.


The two species have quite distinct ranges. At Litchfield they are Wilkin's Rock Wallabies (wilkinsi).
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Can you differentiate them without location?
 
Najade said:
Can you differentiate them without location?
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From https://australianmuseum.net.au/blogpost/science/amri-hiding-in-plain-sight

"Wilkins’ Rock-wallaby, is not only smaller (2.6-3.5kg), but differs in its coloration and markings being predominately dark grey/brown, with distinct head and side stripes, as well as brightly coloured limbs. In contrast, the Short-eared Rock-wallaby from the Kimberley and far northwestern NT is larger (3.9-4.5kg), lighter and greyer, with much less prominent marking."

I have never seen either, so I don't know what that is like in reality.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Well, the three traditional subspecies have never really fallen by the wayside in order to be revived - as far as I know there is no consensus over the issue of whether they are valid or not, and considering the stark difference between them I'd be willing to accept their validity.
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The three sub-species were always political - they were the Victorian, New South Wales and Queensland sub-species. As if the koalas cared about colonial boundaries. Nobody I have ever spoken to regards them as any more than a cline, an example of Bergmann's Rule in action.
 
Najade said:
Do we know where the Rock-wallabies at TWP and Perth are from and whether that makes them Short-eared or Wilkins' Rock-wallaby?
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Chlidonias said:
According to news reports from the time Perth Zoo obtained their animal, he was from the Kimberley, which makes him a Short-eared Rock Wallaby (brachyotis). I don't know about the ones at TWP.
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From your photos of the animal at TWP, I'd say it was a wilkinsi - but I'm just going on what I think I know of their appearance. The origin of their animals would be important to know.

But if it is wilkinsi at TWP then you'd have seen both species because the one at Perth is brachyotis.
 
Yeah, it's a bit difficult to get accurate pics for comparison. Even the photo on the Short-eared wiki article actually shows a Wilkin's.

I don't think I saw the the one at Perth Zoo though :confused:
I'm gonna go back soon. Do you know if it's on-show?
 
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