Revised catalogue of monotremes and marsupials in the historic mammal collection housed at Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali of Torino, Italy.
The historic collection of the Museo di Zoologia and of the Museo di Anatomia Comparata of Torino University(Italy), now hosted at Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali of Torino, contains almost 3000 mammal specimens, in addition to 200 almost complete skeletons and an undefined number of skeletal units. The present work, which is part of a larger project whose aim is to make a complete revision of the specimens still present in the historic collection, was focused on the 135 specimens of monotremes and marsupials, mainly represented by mounted skins, flat skins, and osteological material composed of 12 skeletons and 32 skulls. The study allowed in addition to the implementation of a new revised catalogue, the update of the taxonomic nomenclature and a new determination of 32 specimens and 18 skeletal units.Overall, the monotremes and marsupials in the collection represent 58 species, with some of high scientific value; this isthe case of some extinct species such as: Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus Harris, 1808), Eastern Hare-Wallaby (Lagorchestesleporides (Gould, 1841)) and the Crescent Nailtail Wallaby (Onycogalea lunata (Gould, 1841)). Unfortunately,it was not possible to reach the species level with certainty for 28 specimens due to their bad state of preservation, the lossof the original labels, the lack of detailed collecting data or because of the juvenile or immature stage of development.
