Arvicanthis somalicus Thomas 1903
Creators: name: Musser, Guy G.
name: Carleton, Michael D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 1993
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Muridae
Arvicanthis
Arvicanthis somalicus

description: <i>Arvicanthis somalicus</i> Thomas, 1903. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1902(2):312 [1903]. TYPE LOCALITY: Northern Somaliland (Somalia), Shuk, 4000 ft. DISTRIBUTION: N and E Rift Valleys of Ethiopia (Yalden et al., 1976), Somalia, extreme SE Sudan (Dieterlen and Nikolaus, 1985), and south through Kenya in and east of the Rift Valley (Dollman, 1911; Hollister, 1919) to C and EC Tanzania on both sides of the Rift; limits have yet to be resolved. SYNONYMS: <i>neumanni, reptans, rumruti.</i> COMMENTS: From the time it was described by Thomas (1903 «), <i>A. somalicus</i> has been treated as a species (Allen, 1939; Dollman, 1911; Ellerman, 1941; Hollister, 1919), and with an exception or two (e.g., Misonne, 1974), retains that status (Rousseau, 1983; Yalden et al., 1976). Both reliable published records (see above) and specimens we examined document the northern and central range of <i>A. somalicus.</i> Known southern limits of the species are defined by samples from the Mawele region south of Tabora (Mwanasomano's, 31 mi S Tabora) in C Tanzania and southeast of there at Kilosa in EC Tanzania (specimens in Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard). The species is sympatric with both <i>A. niloticus</i> and <i>A. nairobae (see</i> those accounts). Allen and Loveridge (1933: 117) recorded three specimens from Mwanza on the southern margin of Lake Victoria in Tanzania under the name <i>muansae</i> thinking they represented topotypes of that form, but the holotype of <i>muansae</i> from Mwanza is very large with dark pelage (Matschie, 1911) and is an example of <i>A. niloticus,</i> while their sample is clearly the much smaller and paler <i>A. somalicus;</i> Mwanza is probably another site of sympatry.
description: Published as part of <i>Guy G. Musser &amp; Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, pp. 501-755 in Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London :Smithsonian Institution Press</i> on page 578, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7353098
description: {"references": ["Yalden, D. W., M. J. Largen, and D. Kock. 1976. Catalogue of the mammals of Ethiopia. 2. Insectivora and Rodentia. Monitore Zoologico Italiano, Supplemento 8 (1): 1 - 118.", "Dieterlen, F., and G. Nikolaus. 1985. Zur Saugetierfauna des Sudan- - weitere Erstnachweise und bemerkenswerte Funde. Saugetierkundliche Mitteilungen, 32: 205 - 209.", "Dollman, G. 1911. On Arvicanthis abyssinicus and allied East-African species, with descriptions of four new forms. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, ser. 8, 8: 334 - 353.", "Hollister, N. 1919. East African mammals in the United States National Museum. Part II. Rodentia, Lagomorpha, and Tubulidentata. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 99 (2): 1 - 184.", "Thomas, O. 1903. Notes on Neotropical mammals of the genera Felis, Hapale, Oryzomys, Akodon, and Ctenomys, with descriptions of new species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, ser. 7, 12: 234 - 243.", "Allen, G. M. 1939. A checklist of African mammals. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 83: 1 - 763.", "Ellerman, J. R. 1941. The families and genera of living rodents. Vol. II. Family Muridae. British Museum (Natural History), London, 690 pp.", "Misonne, X. 1974. Order Rodentia. Part 6. Pp. 1 - 39, in The mammals of Africa: An identification manual (J. Meester and H. W. Setzer, eds.). [issued 10 Sep 1974]. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C., not continuously paginated.", "Rousseau, M. 1983. Etude des Arvicanthis du Museum de Paris par analyses factorielles (Rongeurs, Murides). Mammalia, 47: 525 - 542.", "Allen, G. M., and A. Loveridge. 1933. Reports on the scientific results of an expedition to the southwestern highlands of Tanganyika Territory. II. Mammals. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 75: 47 - 140.", "Matschie, P. 1911. Uber einige Saugetiere aus Muansa am Victoria-Nyansa. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde, Berlin, 8: 333 - 343."]}