NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Rusty Antechinus
Antechinus adustus (Thomas, 1923)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Rusty Antechinus (Antechinus adustus) in Australia
Kai Squires · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The tropical antechinus (Antechinus adustus), also known as the rusty antechinus, is a species of small marsupial carnivore, particularly closely related to the brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii).
It is found in a small area of tropical vine forest from Paluma (near Townsville) to Mount Spurgeon (near Mossman) in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It differs from the brown antechinus, with which it was previously thought to be conspecific, in its longer and darker fur. It shares the unusual mating behaviour of many of its relatives in that shortly after the breeding season all males die from stress-related disease.
Wikipedia contributors, Tropical antechinus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:22:20.983098+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Antechinus adustus (Thomas, 1923)
- Name authority
- (Thomas, 1923)
- Common name
- Rusty Antechinus
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Dasyuromorphia
- Family
- Dasyuridae
- Genus
- Antechinus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
- orderDasyuromorphia Gill, 1872
- familyDasyuridae Goldfuss, 1820
- subfamilyDasyurinae Goldfuss, 1820
- tribePhascogalini Gill, 1872
- genusAntechinus Macleay, 1841
- speciesAntechinus adustus (Thomas, 1923)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Antechinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Brown AntechinusAntechinus stuartii Macleay, 1841 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fawn AntechinusAntechinus bellus (Thomas, 1904) | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Subtropical AntechinusAntechinus subtropicus Van Dyck & Crowther, 2000 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-footed AntechinusAntechinus flavipes (Waterhouse, 1838) | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Silver-headed AntechinusAntechinus argentus Baker, Mutton & Hines, 2013 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dusky AntechinusAntechinus swainsonii (Waterhouse, 1840) | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Buff-footed AntechinusAntechinus mysticus Baker, Mutton & Van Dyck, 2012 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-tailed AntechinusAntechinus arktos Baker, Mutton, Hines & Van Dyck, 2014 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tasman Peninsula Dusky AntechinusAntechinus vandycki Baker et al., 2015 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mainland Dusky AntechinusAntechinus mimetes (Thomas, 1924) | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Agile AntechinusAntechinus agilis Dickman, Parnaby, Crowther & King, 1998 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Swamp AntechinusAntechinus minimus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803) | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Phascogale flavipes adusta Thomas, 1923 Thomas, 1923 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=709388 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:679RF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.