Sminthopsis virginiae (de Tarragon 1847)

[Phascogale] virginiae de Tarragon 1847, Rev. Zool. Paris: 177.

Type Locality: None given; Archer (1981:132) designated Australia, Queensland, Herbert Vale.

Vernacular Names: Red-cheeked Dunnart.

Subspecies::

Subspecies Sminthopsis virginiae subsp. virginiae de Tarragon 1847

Subspecies Sminthopsis virginiae subsp. nitela Collett 1897

Subspecies Sminthopsis virginiae subsp. rufigenis Thomas 1922

Distribution: N Queensland, N Northern Territory (Australia); Aru Isls (Indonesia); lowlands of S New Guinea.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: S. macroura species-group. See Archer (1979:329, 1981:132) and Kirsch and Calaby (1977:15). De Tarragon's 1847 description of S. virginiae did not specify a type locality and his type specimen, now lost, had no known locality. Collett (1886 [1887]:548) named S. nitela from Herbert Vale and it was subsequently renamed S. lumholtzi, both being referable to virginiae according to Archer (1981:136); but nitela and probably rufigenis may be distinct species according to Blacket et al. (2001).