Hapalotis personata Krefft 1867

Hapalotis personata Krefft, 1867b

Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1867: 318. (22 October 1867).

Common name. Cape York Rat.

Current name. Rattus leucopus (J. Gray, 1867); following Jackson & Groves (2015).

Lectotype. PA.77, lectotype designation by Mahoney (1973). Female adult, skull, skin mount, the only data entered in Palmer’s hand in the Palmer Register is “ Hapalotis personata Cape York” and “Gallery” (= skin mount) has been stamped in Remarks column.

Condition. Cranium missing right zygomatic arch; right dentary has a broken ramus. Skin mount in reasonable condition; bald patch posterior to each eye; bald patch on throat; bald patch on body behind each hind leg; ventral fur crudely repaired, tail fractured near tip.

Type locality. Cape York, north Qld, Australia.

Paralectotypes. (2). PA.75, male, skull, skin mount; PA.76, indeterminate sex, skin mount without skull, both have Palmer entries that are identical to that of the lectotype.

Comments. Troughton (1923) discussed the type series and regarded the taxon to be a synonym of Rattus rattus. Mahoney (1973) regarded PA.75–77 to be Krefft’s original specimens and provided detailed skull measurements and photographs of the designated lectotype. He rejected Troughton’s assessment of Krefft’s taxon but found it to be a synonym of another taxon described in the same volume and also from Cape York — Acanthomys leucopus Gray, 1867. Although Krefft’s name had page preference, Mahoney designated Acanthomys leucopus as senior synonym to preserve existing use.