Search

The stripe-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura) is one of the most widespread dasyurids in Australia, occurring mostly in semiarid and arid habitats. It is not known to inhabit coastal regions of southern Australia, and no records have previously been recorded from latitudes greater than 28.5°S in Western Australia. Following the capture of an individual south of the known species range provisionally identified based on external morphology as S. macroura , we used DNA and craniodental morphology to corroborate the specimen's identification, providing a record of the species at Eucla, Western Australia. This represents a large range extension for S. macroura of 630 km from the nearest confirmed records of the species in Western Australia and South Australia. A suspected stripe-faced dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura) was captured at a coastal dune site near Eucla, Western Australia. The identity of the specimen was corroborated through DNA sequencing and morphological examination. This represents a range extension into novel habitat for the species in southern Western Australia. Photograph by Joshua Keen, Biota Environmental Sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]