Order Rodentia - Family Muridae
Author
Wilson, Don E.
Author
Reeder, DeeAnn
text
2005
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2
1189
1531
book chapter
0-8018-8221-4
10.5281/zenodo.7316535
Lophuromys (Lophuromys) nudicaudus
Heller 1911
Lophuromys (Lophuromys) nudicaudus
Heller 1911
,
Smithson. Misc. Coll., 56 (17): 11
.
Type Locality:
Cameroon
, Bula country, Efulen (see
Rosevear, 1969
, for information about the
holotype
).
Vernacular Names:
Fire-bellied Brush-furred Rat
.
Synonyms:
Lophuromys (Lophuromys) afer
(Tullberg 1893)
;
Lophuromys (Lophuromys) naso
Thomas 1911
;
Lophuromys (Lophuromys) parvulus
Eisentraut 1965
;
Lophuromys (Lophuromys) tullbergi
Matschie 1911
.
Distribution:
Lowland tropical evergreen rainforest, usually below
700 m
, from S
Cameroon
,
Equatorial Guinea
(including Bioko),
Gabon
,
Republic of Congo
, SW
Central African Republic
, and N Dem. Rep.
Congo
(
Orientale
), between the Ubangui River in the west and the Aruwimi River in the east; Basoko, 01E13' N, 23E35' E, near the confluence of the Aruwimi River with the
Congo
, is the easternmost record. Despite intensive survey,
L. nudicaudus
is not found on the right side of the
Congo
River between mouth of the Aruwimi River and Kisangani to the southeast); elsewhere it occurs only on right side of
Congo
River. Distribution concordant with the West-Central and
Cameroon
zoogeographic faunal regions (W.
Verheyen et al., 1996
a
).
Conservation:
IUCN
– Lower Risk (lc).
Discussion:
Subgenus
Lophuromys
. Most closely related to
L. huttereri
from the left side of the
Congo
River in N Dem. Rep.
Congo
(W.
Verheyen et al., 1996
a
). Included in
L. sikapusi
by
Misonne (1974)
, but is a distinct species;
L. sikapusi
and
L. nudicaudus
occur together in the same region in W Africa.
Rosevear (1969)
discussed traits distinguishing the two species and the taxonomic history of samples in West Africa. W.
Verheyen et al. (1996
a
)
summarized taxonomic history of the two species (and allocations of the taxa associated with them), and morphological and morphometric analyses that distinguish them.
Dieterlen (1978
b
)
explained why
naso
is a synonym.
Eisentraut (1965)
described
parvulus
as a subspecies of
L. sikapusi
but
Rosevear (1969)
included it in
L. nudicaudus
. W.
Verheyen et al. (1996
a
)
endorsed the synonymy of
naso
with
L. nudicaudus
and synonymized
parvulus
with
tullbergi
; they were reluctant to include the latter in
L. nudicaudus
until biochemical and other data could be analyzed, despite the apparent union of
tullbergi
with
L. nudicaudus
in their multivariate analysis. Karyotype of
Cameroon
specimens was described by W.
Verheyen and Van der Straeten (1980)
.