Talk:Mulgara

Species

This article recognises two species of mulgara, D. cristicauda and D. blythi. My Australian references don't mention D. blythi (even as a subspecies) but do mention the Ampurta, D. hillieri. The IUCN lists all three. Can someone explain this for me? Frickeg 03:00, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

MSW3 recognizes only cristicauda, calling blighi, blythi, and hillieri as synonyms. However, reference 2 is more recent than MSW3, so it takes precedence and recognizes two species, cristicauda and blythi. - UtherSRG (talk) 10:21, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

This is out of date and there is a new paper New paper Uppitymallard (talk) 13:20, 26 October 2023 (UTC)

While our requirements have changed since 2007 (MSW3 is regarded as out of date; we now rely on IUCN and the ASM MDD), our current cources support the two species system listed here. The informaiton in the new paper will need to be accepted by the IUCN and the ASM MDD, or be accepted by at least two other well respected secondary sources. - UtherSRG (talk) 13:59, 26 October 2023 (UTC)

The ASM MDD has been updated and recognises the proposed species in the aforementioned paper. Uppitymallard (talk) 05:51, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

@Uppitymallard: Indeed! I've created the three new stubs and updated this article. Please feel free to expand on what I've done. Thanks for keeping on top of this! - UtherSRG (talk) 15:07, 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Type Species

Could someone please explain to me why the type species in this article is of a completely different genus? Ravenicus451 (talk) 15:16, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

We list the original taxon used. It links to the correct article with the modern taxon name. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:21, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Mulgara/CommentsTalk:Mulgara/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

This is a good start to an article but lacks a lot of biological information about the genus; subheadings could help. It would also be good to see individual articles for the two species. Frickeg 04:39, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Last edited at 04:39, 17 February 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 00:36, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Description

The first paragraph contains exciting information about the kidneys of a creature that has not even been described. Is it as big as a mouse or as small as a camel? This article lacks the absolute basics of an encyclopedic description. Amandajm (talk) 15:21, 16 September 2022 (UTC)

Better now? Feel free to be bold and fix things you find wrong. Cheers! - UtherSRG (talk) 15:29, 16 September 2022 (UTC)

Aboriginal knowledge of mulgaras

What is the place of the various mulgara species in Aboriginal lore? Do different mobs (tribes and clans) have traditional stories about those species on their respective countries? What is the origin of the name "mulgara"; is it from a specific Aboriginal language, or common to several; does the name vary by language? What use, if any, did Aboriginal peoples traditionally make of mulgaras? Do they figure in creation stories of the Dreaming? yoyo (talk) 12:35, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Other language groups indeed having different names based on the region. This paper has some further information on this, however the taxonomy is outdated.

Burbidge, A. A., Johnson, K. A., Fuller, P. J., & Southgate, R. I. (1988). Aboriginal knowledge of the mammals of the central deserts of Australia. Wildlife Research, 15(1), 9-39. Uppitymallard (talk) 14:39, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

D. cristicauda and D. hillieri

There still seems to be much confusion on this article, as well as the D. cristicauda and D. hillieri articles. It would be best to completely change the current D. cristicauda page to "D. hillieri" as this is essentially what has happened. All living populations are D. hillieri, thus all information regarding the living taxon is D. hillieri. The stub should be changed to D. cristicauda as not much is known about this taxon with only the type specimen and subfossils known. Uppitymallard (talk) 13:15, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

MDD disagrees with you, citing Newman-Martin 2023 (as we do) and listing the same 6 species we list here. IUCN lists three species: blythi, cristicauda, and byrnei. Your proposal seems too soon to me. - UtherSRG (talk) 15:42, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

I disagree. The MDD lists D. cristicauda as extinct and D. hillieri as extant. The following is stated on the mdd with regards to D. cristicauda:

"previously included D. blythi and D. hillieri, as well as populations now attributed to D. archeri, D. marlowi, and D. woolleyae; the species is probably extinct with the exclusion of D. hillieri, which includes the currently extant populations previously attributed to this species."

Thus a correct reflection would be to change the current page of D. cristicauda to D. hillieri, this is also reflected in Newman-Martin et al., 2023 as previously the extant species was stated as D. hillieri. Uppitymallard (talk) 16:12, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

Extinct doesn't mean the taxon is null, though. It's still a legitimate taxon, even if there are no individuals of it left. Update status of the taxon in the articles, but don't obliterate the taxon. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:20, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

You misunderstand me. I do not me to say that D. cristicauda is invalid just that the articles need to be swapped as all the information pertaining to the living individuals is representative of D. hillieri, not D. cristicauda. As the taxa have been swapped, so to has all the research done. We do not know anything about D. cristicauda as it is only known from a single live caught specimen, therefore the stub should be D. cristicauda and the full article should be D. hillieri. Sorry for the miscommunication. Uppitymallard (talk) 16:24, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

That sounds more reasonable. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:26, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

Again apologies for the confusion. If you agree then I can make the edits. Uppitymallard (talk) 16:28, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

Go for it. :) - UtherSRG (talk) 22:17, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

I have made the changes. I copied the information from crest-tailed to Ampurta and wrote a new crest-tail page. I am unable to see if it published, it may need a review. Uppitymallard (talk) 07:02, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

Ah wait I see now. I have been bot flagged for vandalism as the change was so large. Uppitymallard (talk) 07:05, 19 January 2026 (UTC)