Antechinus vandycki
| Antechinus vandycki | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Antechinus vandycki | ||||||||||||
| Baker et al., 2015 |
Antechinus vandycki is a bag species from the genus of antechinus , which only in 2015 described has been and so far only on the Tasman Peninsula in eastern Australian state of Tasmania is known. It was named in honor of Steve Van Dyck, a former curator of mammals and birds at the Queensland Museum .
description
The holotype examined at the first description has a head-torso length of 13.3 cm and a weight of 89.1 g. The tail is 12 cm long and thus shorter than the head and torso. At its base it is 6.5 mm thick and tapers more and more towards the tip. The hind feet are 2.5 cm long. The claws are very long. The longest rear foot claw is 4 mm long, the longest claw on the front foot is 5.6 mm long. The balls of the hind feet are strongly corrugated. For a broad-footed pouch mouse of its size, Antechinus vandycki has relatively small ears (16.7 mm long). The animal has about 20 to 27 mm long whiskers on each side of its snout . Antechinus vandycki has a dark gray fur on the back and dirty gray on the belly. There are some brownish sprinkles, especially on the sides. The feet are brown-gray, the tail two-colored with a dark gray upper and a brown-gray underside.
Antechinus vandycki is most similar to the Swainson's broad- footed pouch mouse ( Antechinus swainsonii ). Both species are mainly gray in color, while the black-tailed broad-footed pouch ( Antechinus arktos ) and Antechinus mimetes are more brownish. Antechinus vandycki is darker than the Swainson's broad- footed pouch mouse. Antechinus vandycki differs from the yellowish-gray swamp broad- footed pouch ( Antechinus minimus ) in the color of the fur, the longer tail and the less powerful rear part. It differs from other broad-footed pouch mice mainly in its significantly larger size and longer and narrower snout.
distribution and habitat
Antechinus vandycki is so far only known from the Tasman Peninsula in the east of the Australian state of Tasmania. The habitat is a temperate rainforest with hard-leaf vegetation , dense undergrowth and a lot of fall foliage. Dominant trees are southern beech ( Nothofagus ), eucryphia ( Eucryphia ) Atherosperma , athrotaxis ( Athrotaxis ), eucalyptus delegatensis and Eucalyptus obliqua , the Eskalloniengewächs Anopterus glandulosus is often in the undergrowth and fern Blechnum nudum growing on the ground.
source
- Baker AM et al. 2015. A taxonomic assessment of the Australian Dusky Antechinus Complex: a new species, the Tasman Peninsula Dusky Antechinus (Antechinus vandycki sp. Nov.) And an elevation to species of the Mainland Dusky Antechinus (Antechinus swainsonii mimetes (Thomas)). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum - Nature, vol. 59, p. 75-126; doi: 10.17082 / j.2204-1478.59.2015.2014-10