A new subspecies of Dusky Antechinus, Antechinus swainsonii (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) from western Victoria.

Abstract

Antechinus swainsonii insulanus subsp. nov. is described from specimens collected in the Grampians National Park in western Victoria. This subspecies, specimens of which were previously referred to as A. swainsonii mimetes, differs most notably from A. s. swainsonii and A. s. mimetes by its widely flared zygomatic arches, by its broader rostrum, by lacking an entoconid on the second lower molar and by having a sharply raised hypocristid on the fourth lower molar. Antechinus s. insulanus further differs significantly from other southern specimens of A. swainsonii in ten out of fifteen cranial and dental measurements used.