Graphiurus Smuts 1832
Creators: name: Wilson, Don E.
name: Reeder, DeeAnn
Publisher: name: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Gliridae
Graphiurus

description: Graphiurus Smuts 1832
Graphiurus Smuts 1832, Enumer. Mamm. Capensium: 32-33.
Type Species: Sciurus ocularis Smith 1829
Synonyms: Gliriscus Thomas and Hinton 1925; Graphidurus Brandt 1855.
Species and subspecies: 14 species in 3 subgenera:
Subgenus Graphiurus (Graphiurus) Smuts 1832
Subgenus Graphiurus (Aethoglis) G. M. Allen 1936
Subgenus Graphiurus (Claviglis) Jentink 1888
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) angolensis de Winton 1897
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) christyi Dollman 1914
Species Graphiurus (Claviglis) crassicaudatus Jentink 1888
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) johnstoni Thomas 1897
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) kelleni Reuvens 1890
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) lorraineus Dollman 1910
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) microtis Noack 1887
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) monardi St. Leger 1936
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) murinus (Desmarest 1822)
Species Graphiurus (Aethoglis) nagtglasii Jentink 1888
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) ocularis (Smith 1829)
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) platyops Thomas 1897
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) rupicola Thomas and Hinton 1925
Species Graphiurus (Graphiurus) surdus Dollman 1912
Discussion: Graphiurus has been divided into as many as four separate genera (e.g., G. M. Allen, 1939; Holden, 1996 b; Pavlinov and Potapova, 2003): Aethoglis, containing the largest African dormouse, G. nagtglasii (sometimes erroneously including G. monardi); Graphiurus, comprised of G. ocularis, with its reduced, simple premolar; Gliriscus, consisting of the rupicolous G. platyops and G. rupicola, with their flattened skulls; and Claviglis, the so-called "tree dormice", to which the remaining species of Graphiurus were assigned. Two of these, Graphiurus and Claviglis, have often been retained as subgenera (e.g., Ellerman et al., 1953; Rosevear, 1969). No published studies based upon a broad sample of species have addressed the validity of these subgeneric boundaries as used by past authorities or presented hypotheses of relationships among species. However, a phylogenetic study based on cranial and middle ear morphology, supports the recognition of three traditionally recognized subgenera of Graphiurus: Aethoglis containing G. nagtglasii, Claviglis comprised of G. crassicaudatus, and Graphiurus which would include all other graphiurines that were sampled (Pavlinov and Potapova, 2003). Their analyses showed that first nagtglasii, then crassicaudatus, diverged early in the evolution of African Dormice, and that the rest of the graphiurines sampled (angolensis, christyi, kelleni, lorraineus, murinus, ocularis, parvus and surdus) form a monophyletic group. Based on Pavlinov and Potapova’s results, three subgenera are recognized below. For synonyms see Ellerman (1940), Ellerman et al. (1953), McKenna and Bell (1997), Rosevear (1969).
The revision of Graphiurus by Genest-Villard (1978), based mostly on size grades, underestimated species diversity, particularly in the G. murinus group. Subsequently, species limits were defined in reports covering different African regions (e.g., Ansell and Dowsett, 1988; Holden, 1996 b; Robbins and Schlitter, 1981) The species recognized below reflect information in the literature, as well as myexamination of museum specimens and preliminary, mostly unpublished multivariate analyses of cranial and dental measurements.
description: Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Gliridae, pp. 819-840 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 821, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316535