Broom Cave Cercartetus: with observations on pygmy possum dental morphology, variation, and taxonomy
Abstract
[Introduction] The murids of the Broom Cave Fauna were dealt with in the first of a series of reports planned to cover the mammals of this Late Pleistocene deposit in the Wombeyan Caves area of New South Wales (Schram & Turnbull, 1970). The fauna is contained in a breccia derived in large part from an accumulation of regurgitated owl pellets. Continuing this series, we now consider the two pygmy possums in the Broom fauna: Cercartetus nanus and Cercartetus lepidus. Study of these species has involved us with the definition of the genus Cercartetus as advanced by Wakefield (1963). Consequently we put forth some observations relating to this delineation along with an analysis of certain dental patterns of the members of this group.
