Echymipera cf. kalubu ( Fischer, 1829 )

Pine, Ronald H., Mack, Andrew L. & Timm, Robert M., 2017, Marsupials And Rodents Of The Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea, Occasional Papers of the Museum 352, pp. 1-30 : 3

Echymipera cf. kalubu ( Fischer, 1829)

Fischer (1829:68) named “ P [erameles]. ? Kalubu ” from “insula Waigiou” (= Waigeo) and attributed the name to Lesson (“Less. in Dict. class. XIII. P. 200”). We follow Husson (1955) in regarding Fischer as the author of the name.

Thomas (1914) reported a specimen of “ Echymipera cockerelli [sic] from “Admiralty Island,” presumably meaning Manus.

Flannery (1995b:68) wrote “ Two specimens are known from Manus: BMNH 14.4.1.24, a male collected by Meek and Eichhorn on 23 September 1913 [the specimen reported by Thomas (1914)]; and BZM [apparently a lapsus for MZB = Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense] 15061, a male collected by H. Schodde [apparently a lapsus for H. Schoede, see Aplin et al. (2015), and earlier authors] at Seeadlerhafn. There is also a specimen (unregistered) held in the collections of the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, from the nearby island of Lou. [ Aplin et al. (2015) misquote Flannery in regard to these specimens]. Preliminary investigations of archeological sites on Manus suggest that it has been introduced there ….” Earlier, Fredericksen et al. (1993) had written, in regard to evidence from the Pamwark archaeological site, that their findings suggested that the bandicoot had first appeared there at about 11,000 BP, when the inhabitants had shifted from flaked “stone” to obsidian artifacts, and that the animal had presumably been introduced by humans, from the mainland of New Guinea. Flannery et al. (1994:29) further stated that evidence suggested that E. kalubu had “been introduced by humans during the Holocene.” Flannery (1995b) would apparently have classified the Admiralty Echymipera as E. k. cockerellii Ramsay, 1877 , which Flannery consistently, and apparently inadvertently, referred to as “ Perameles cockerellii .” Laurie and Hill (1954) and others spelled this Perameles cockerelli [see also Thomas (1914)]. The correct spelling is cockerellii (see Ramsay 1877). Echymipera kalubu cockerelli [sic] is also one of the three subspecies recognized by Groves (2005b), who did not mention the Admiralties as within the species’ range. Williams (1999) reported E. kalubu as dating back to “12400 +/− 480 BP” (also given as “at approx 12,000 BP”) at the Pamwak archeological site on Manus. This corresponds in time with archeological evidence that would mean that the inhabitants had become more seafaring. Williams wrote (p. 248) that “The implication of the bandicoot presence is that it was brought to the island by people accidentally or as a food source.” Helgen and Flannery (2004:831), however, wrote “… Echymipera kalubu is common at all levels throughout the Pamwak deposit [“a rockshelter site in southern Manus”] back to about 12,400 years ago; it could be native to Manus … and its taxonomic status deserves study.” Aplin et al. (2015:56) wrote that clarification of the identity of this animal “is a high priority for future research.” However, Dickman (2015) seems to have little doubt as to the specific identity of the Manus bandicoot, because he assigns it the subspecies E. k. cockerelli [sic] Ramsay, 1877. He hypothesized that it reached the Admiralties by human agency in the late Pleistocene.

Timm et al. (2016) reported that snares are set by local trappers on Manus, around Kawaliep Village, in hopes of catching these bandicoots and rats and that both are eaten. However, Aplin et al. (2015) indicated that this species appears to be scarce on Mt. Sobomu, stating that landowners in 2014 claimed that they are present in the forest, primarily in rocky areas and only in low numbers, such that they were not worth trying to hunt or set snares for. Aplin et al. however stated that locals at their Yeri River site in 2014 said that bandicoots were plentiful and could be snared along runways. Efforts by Aplin et al. at spotlighting, looking for sign, and camera trapping that year also produced no evidence of the presence of this species.