Australasian Journal of Herpetology 42:38-41. Published 25 April 2020. A new subspecies of Yellow-bellied Glider (Marsupialia: Petauridae) from far north Queensland, Australia. LSID URN:LSID:ZOOBANK.ORG:PUB:836EDBB0-1DD2-42BC-ACB1-FB2D6A6BA199 RAYMOND T. HOSER LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:F9D74EB5-CFB5-49A0-8C7C-9F993B8504AE 488 Park Road, Park Orchards, Victoria, 3134, Australia. Phone: +61 3 9812 3322 Fax: 9812 3355 E-mail: snakeman (at) snakeman.com.au Received 6 April 2020, Accepted 16 April 2020, Published 25 April 2020. ABSTRACT The taxonomy of the east Australian Yellow-bellied Glider Petaurus australis Shaw, 1791 has been confused, conflicting and subject to change over the past 200 years. Several type specimens have been formally described. The nominate form is from New South Wales as are at least three other types, all formally synonymised by Bannister et al. (1988). The putative subspecies Petaurus australis reginae Thomas, 1923 was found by Brown et al. (2006) to be genetically similar to the nominate form and so has been treated as synonymous ever since. However Brown et al. (2006) also showed that the putative P. australis from the wet tropics of far north Queensland, separated from southern populations by the Biogeographic barrier of the Burdekin Gap, are sufficiently divergent both genetically and morphologically to be treated as a subspecies. This view has been agreed by others (Anonymous 2008, Department of the Environment and Resource Management 2011, 2017) and yet the taxon has until now been unnamed. This paper corrects this situation and formally names the subspecies P. australis adelynhoserae subsp. nov.. With an extant population estimated at just 6,000 individuals (Anonymous 2008) and significant ongoing threats causing a long-term decline in the taxon, it is critically important that a sound conservation and captive-breeding program be commenced. Keywords: Mammals; Marsupial; Petauridae; taxonomy; nomenclature; possum; yellow-bellied glider; wet tropics; Queensland; Australia; Petaurus; australis; new subspecies; adelynhoserae.
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