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 Rhabdomys dilectus (De Winton 1897) [Rhabdomys] dilectus (De Winton 1897) , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1896: 803 . Type Locality: NE Zimbabwe , Mashonaland , Mazowe. Vernacular Names: Mesic Four-striped Grass Rat . Synonyms: Rhabdomys algoae Roberts 1946 ; Rhabdomys angolae (Wroughton 1905) ; Rhabdomys bethuliensis Roberts 1946 ; Rhabdomys chakae (Wroughton 1905) ; Rhabdomys cradockensis Roberts 1946 ; Rhabdomys diminutus ( Thomas 1893 ) ; Rhabdomys griquoides Roberts 1946 ; Rhabdomys moshesh (Wroughton 1905) ; Rhabdomys nyasae (Wroughton 1905) ; Rhabdomys vaalensis Roberts 1946 . Distribution: E South Africa ( Rambau et al., 2003 ), E Zimbabwe ( Smithers and Wilson, 1979 ), WC Mozambique ( Smithers and Lobao Tello, 1976 ), Malawi (Nyika Plateau and Mulanje Massif; Ansell and Dowsett, 1988 ), NE Zambia (Nyika Plateau; Ansell, 1978 ), SE Dem. Rep. Congo (Kasaki, Marungu Mtns, 2300 m ; Hatt, 1940 b ), highlands in Tanzania ( Grimshaw et al., 1995 ; Shore and Garbett, 1991 ; Swynnerton and Hayman, 1951 ; Vesey-Fitzgerald, 1966 ), Kenya ( Hollister, 1919 ), E Uganda (Mt. Elgon; Clausnitzer, 2001; Clausnitzer and Kityo, 2001 ; Delany, 1975 ), and S and C Angola ( Crawford-Cabral, 1998 ; Hill and Carter, 1941 ); all referred to as P. pumilio except Rambau et al. (2003) . Conservation: algoae Roberts, 1946 ; angolae (Wroughton, 1905) ; bethuliensis Roberts, 1946 ; chakae (Wroughton, 1905) ; cradockensis Roberts, 1946 ; diminutus ( Thomas, 1893 ) ; griquoides Roberts, 1946 ; moshesh (Wroughton, 1905) ; nyasae (Wroughton, 1905) ; vaalensis Roberts, 1946 . Discussion: Definition of R. dilectus generally follows Rambau et al. (2003) , who sampled populations in South Africa , W Zimbabwe , Nyika Plateau in Malawi , and Mt. Elgon in Uganda . The species occurs in mesic grasslands and savannas in southern Africa (probably the more mesic of the six biotic zones of southern Africa in which Rhabdomys occurs; Yom-Tov, 1993 ) but north of that region (in SE Demo Rep. Congo , NE Zambia , Malawi , Tanzania , Kenya , and Uganda ) is restricted to disjunct montane savannas (e. g., Delany, 1975 ; Hollister, 1919 ; and other references cited above for regions north of South Africa , Zimbabwe , and Mozambique ). Two species occur in Angola . Rhabdomys pumilio occupies only the southwestern Namib desert of Angola (see account below); it is their sample from here that Carter and Hill (1941:102) identified as R. bechuanae . The other is represented by populations occurring over most of the Angolan Plateau. Rambau et al. (2003) did not sample Angola , but we assume these highland populations to represent R. dilectus . This afromontane distribution, an isolated population in Angola and isolated populations along highlands of East Africa, is concordant with the distributional pattern seen in Hylomyscus denniae (see account) .