Identification of Planigale ingrami and Planigale tenuirostris from mandibles deposited in eastern barn owl (Tyto javanica delicatula) pellets

C. L. Charley; E. L. Gray; A. M. Baker

doi:10.1071/AM25005

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Identification of Planigale ingrami and Planigale tenuirostris from mandibles deposited in eastern barn owl (Tyto javanica delicatula) pellets

C. L. Charley

^A ^* , E. L. Gray

^A and A. M. Baker

^A ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Biology and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.

^B Biodiversity and Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Qld, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: cameron.charley@hdr.qut.edu.au

Handling Editor: Mark Eldridge

Australian Mammalogy 47, AM25005 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM25005

Submitted: 24 January 2025 Accepted: 21 March 2025 Published: 11 April 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).

Abstract

Distinguishing Planigale ingrami from P. tenuirostris skeletal remains currently requires an intact skull. However, mandibular material is much more commonly encountered, particularly in owl pellets. Here, we show an identification feature for these planigales based solely on mandibles found in eastern barn owl (Tyto javanica delicatula) pellets collected from Toorak, north-western Queensland, Australia. Despite considerable overlap between taxa, our measurements of the angle between the molar row and ascending ramus suggested both planigale species were present. This has implications for mammal species richness estimates made from owl pellets where planigales would otherwise remain identifiable only to genus, and for our understanding of planigale species distributions.

Keywords: barn owl, dasyurid, detection, dietary analysis, diversity, mammal, morphology, species identification.

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