Order Rodentia - Family Nesomyidae
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
930
955
book chapter
0-8018-8221-4
10.5281/zenodo.7316535
Petromyscus shortridgei
Thomas 1926
Petromyscus shortridgei
Thomas 1926
,
Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1926: 302
.
Type Locality:
Extreme S
Angola
, Ruacana Falls,
3350 ft
(
1021 m
).
Vernacular Names:
Shortridge's Pygmy Rock Mouse
.
Distribution:
W and S
Angola
and N
Namibia
(S to
Erongo
Mtns and Okahandja region); limits unknown.
Conservation:
IUCN
– Lower Risk (lc).
Discussion:
Reviewed by
Skinner and Smithers (1990)
and de Graaff (1997
ll
).
Roberts (1951)
treated
shortridgei
as a subspecies of
P. bruchus
, and
Meester et al. (1986)
listed it as a subspecies of
P. collinus
. However, Thomas’ species description correctly expressed the distinctness of the animal; also see Schlitter (
in
Meester et al., 1986
) and
Skinner and Smithers (1990)
. The larger size of
P. shortridgei
, darker fur with a less silky texture, and lack of postaxillary teats clearly separate it from
P. collinus
, a judgement based upon
AMNH
and
FMNH
specimens, which also inform our estimate of its geographic range.
Crawford-Cabral (1998)
recorded
P. shortridgei
only from the vicinity of Ruacana Falls, S
Angola
near the
Namibia
border, and speculated that the specimen (
AMNH
81915) from farther north at Coporolo represented
P. collinus
. External and cranial morphology of the Coporolo specimen falls within the range of variation in
P. shortridgei
(as identified by
Hill and Carter, 1941:104
), not
P. collinus
. The two species overlap in distribution in SW
Angola
and N
Namibia
but have not been collected at the same place.