Taxonomic revision of the Thylogale brunii complex (Macropodidae: Marsupialia) in Melanesia, with description of a new spcies.

Abstract

Three species are recognised among material previously referred to as Thylogale brunii. Thylogale brunii as newly defined here is distributed at low elevations in sourhern New Guinea, and inhabits areas with a marked dry season and a savannah-forest ecotone. Thylogate browni includes two subspecies: T. b. lanatus from subalpine grasslands above 3000 m on the Huon Peninsula, and T. b. browni from the Bismarck Archipelago and central-eastern New Guinea, where it occurs from the Cyclops Mountains in the West to the Bulolo area in the east at altitudes up to 2000 m. lt prefers disturbed habitats. Thylogale calobyi n. sp. is restricted to subalpine grasslands along the Central Cordillera at above 3000 m in Papua New Guinea. All three species seem to be sensitive to hunting pressure, with local extinctions being recorded for T. brunii and T. browni in historic times, and a prehistoric extinction for a population of uncertain status from subalpine grasslands in Irian Jaya.