A survey of small mammals in the Volta Region of Ghana with comments on zoogeography and conservation Author Decher, Jan Mammal Section, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn (Germany) and Department of Biology, University of Vermont. Burlington, Vermont 05405 (USA) j. decher @ leibniz-zfmk. de Author Norris, Ryan W. Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University at Lima, Lima, OH 45804 (USA) ryanwnorris @ gmail. com ryanwnorris@gmail.com Author Abedi-Lartey, Michael Golden Veroleum (Liberia) Inc., Monrovia Office: Unit 102, Wazni Building, 13 th Street and Tubman Boulevard, Sinkor, Monrovia (Liberia) Author Oppong, James Wildlife Division, Forestry Commission, P. O. Box M 239, Accra (Ghana) Author Hutterer, Rainer Mammal Section, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn (Germany) Author Weinbrenner, Martin Philosophenweg 12, 77654 Offenburg (Germany) Author Koch, Martin Department of Biogeography, University of Trier, Universitätsring 15, D- 54296 Trier (Germany) Author Podsiadlowski, Lars Mammal Section, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn (Germany) Author Kilpatrick, C. William Department of Biology, University of Vermont. Burlington, Vermont 05405 (USA) wkilpatr @ uvm. edu wkilpatr@uvm.edu text Zoosystema 2021 2021-05-20 43 14 253 281 journal article 6523 10.5252/zoosystema2021v43a14 b1eb9973-f581-4a60-9c87-68b7ae4b3591 1638-9387 4783781 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7008A933-FE5E-405E-BBAD-8C06D2A8807D Praomys misonnei Van der Straeten & Dieterlen, 1987 ( Fig. 5 ) Praomys misonnei Van der Straeten & Dieterlen, 1987: 3 . COMMON NAME. — Misonne’s Soft-furred Rat. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary • 5 ♂ ; USNM 590095-590098 , SMF 91365 • 12 ♀ ; USNM 590093 , 590094 , USNM 590115 , 590116 , SMF 91435, 91363 , 91366 , 91367-91369 , 93747 , ZTNHC 953 • 1?; USNM 590117 . Apesokubi • 7 ♂ ; USNM 590099 , SMF 91374 + 91377, ZTNHC 961 , 962 , 964 , UVM VR062 • 5 ♀ ; USNM 590100 , USNM 590118 – 590120 , SMF 91375. Kalakpa Resource Reserve (see Fig. 5 ) • 8 ♂ ; USNM 590080 + 590081, USNM 590083-590085 , USNM 590088 , USNM 590091 , USNM 590113 , ZTNHC 949 • 6 ♀ ; USNM 590082 , USNM 590086 + 590087, USNM 590089 + 590090, USNM 590114 • 1?; USNM 590079 . Kyabobo National Park • 3 ♀ ; USNM 590121-590123 . Shiare • 1 ♀ ; USNM 590124 • 2♀ ; SMF 91372 + 91373. Tagbo-Falls • 1 ♂ ; USNM 590103 ; 1 ♀ ; USNM 590125 . REMARK With 190 captured individuals, Praomys misonnei was the most frequently caught species in the Volta Region, followed by Mus ( Nannomys ) musculoides Temminck, 1853 (n = 23) and Hylomyscus pamfi (n = 7). All Praomys had been tentatively identified as P. tullbergi in the field, but a recent molecular follow-up study included seven of our specimens from Agumatsa, Apesokubi and Shiare and showed that they all belonged to P. misonnei , reinforcing that P. tullbergi is limited to the Upper Guinea Region, west of the Volta River and P. misonnei to the Dahomey Gap region into Central Africa ( Nicolas et al. 2010a , 2011 ) with the Volta River forming the zoogeographic barrier between the two species. Our specimens were part of their Clade II, which is restricted to the Ghana-Togo Highlands and Dahomey Gap area. CONSERVATION STATUS. — Praomys misonnei is listed as “Least Concern” on the 2019 IUCN Red List, but the species range has not yet been updated to include the Lower Guinea Region based on Nicolas et al. (2010a , 2011 ).