Rediscovery of the holotype of Petaurus notatus Peters 1859 (Petauridae; Marsupialia) and clarification of the type locality

Peter Menkhorst; Tim Stranks

doi:10.1071/AM24043

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Contents Vol 47(2)

Rediscovery of the holotype of Petaurus notatus Peters 1859 (Petauridae; Marsupialia) and clarification of the type locality

Peter Menkhorst ^A ^B ^* and Tim Stranks ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Museums Victoria Research Institute, Museums Victoria, Carlton Gardens, Melbourne, Vic 3000, Australia.

^B Department of Environment and Genetics, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic 3086, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: menkhorstp@gmail.com

Handling Editor: Ross Goldingay

Australian Mammalogy 47, AM24043 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM24043

Submitted: 19 November 2024 Accepted: 2 April 2025 Published: 5 May 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-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

A recent integrative taxonomic study concluded that the sugar glider, Petaurus breviceps (sensu lato), comprises more than one species and that Petaurus notatus Peters 1859 should be resurrected as the available name for one of the two newly circumscribed species. The type specimen of Petaurus notatus has been considered to be lost, leading to a neotype being nominated. A recent search of the type collections of the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, located the holotype and we provide photographs and a morphological description of the skin and partial skull. The neotype should now be set aside. The type locality of Petaurus notatus is also clarified, correcting misinterpretations of locality information provided in the original type description and recent texts.

Keywords: Blandowski Expedition, Gerard Krefft, holotype, International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, neotype, Petaurus breviceps, Petaurus notatus, type locality.

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