First fossil record of Perameles fasciata from New South Wales and Queensland: reassessment of Perameles sobbei

Abstract

The first fossil record of the Liverpool Plains striped bandicoot, Perameles fasciata, is presented. Since this species was split from its west coast counterpart, Perameles bougainville, no fossil record had been reported. Perameles fasciata is found in five fossil sites in Queensland and New South Wales, all Pleistocene in age. Perameles sobbei, described from the Darling Downs in Queensland, is found to be a junior synonym of P. fasciata, based on morphometrics and diagnostic morphological features. A morphological phylogeny finds that P. fasciata is more closely related to Perameles nasuta, Perameles pallescens and Perameles gunnii than P. bougainville. Perameles fasciata was likely more widespread in the Pleistocene, but by the Holocene had only survived on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales until its extinction in the 1860s, probably as a result of land clearing and the introduction of foxes. While P. bougainville has been translocated in New South Wales, P. gunnii, which co-occurred with P. fasciata, is a better ecological analogue because of it is similar size, morphology and phylogenetic affinity.Kenny J. Travouillon [Kenny.Travouillon@museum.wa.gov.au], Collections and Research Centre, Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, WA 6106, Australia.