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
Pelomys
Peters 1852
Pelomys
Peters 1852
,
Bericht Verhandl. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss.
Berlin
, 17: 275
.
Type Species:
Mus (Pelomys) fallax
Peters 1852
Synonyms:
Komemys
De Beaux 1924
.
Species and subspecies:
5 species:
Species
Pelomys campanae
Huet 1888
Species
Pelomys fallax
Peters 1852
Species
Pelomys hopkinsi
Hayman 1955
Species
Pelomys isseli
de Beaux 1924
Species
Pelomys minor
Cabrera and Ruxton 1926
Discussion:
Arvicanthis
Division. Definition and phylogenetic position of
Pelomys
need to be reassessed in context of a systematic revision of arvicanthine murines. In overall morphology, the genus is most closely related to
Mylomys
and
Desmomys
, which in turn are members of a group also containing species of
Arvicanthis
,
Lemniscomys
, and
Rhabdomys
(
Musser, 1987
b
)
, an alliance corroborated by mtDNA sequences of cytochrome
b
and 12S and 16S rRNA gene fragments (
Ducroz et al., 2001
). The latter study indicated
Pelomys
to be most closely related to
Mylomys
(
Ducroz et al., 2001
)
and some authors regard them as congeneric (e. g., Heim de Balsac and Bellier, 1967). Analysis of microcomplement fixation of albumin groups
Pelomys
with
Lemniscomys
,
Rhabdomys
,
Grammomys
, and
Thallomys
(
Watts and Baverstock, 1995
a
)
.
Komemys
is usually treated as a subgenus for
P. hopkinsi
and
P. isseli
(e.g.,
Delany, 1975
), but we recognize it here as a synonym of
Pelomys
.
Pelomys
is represented by Pliocene and Pleistocene fossils from East Africa (Jaeger, 1976;
Jaeger and Wesselman, 1976
;
Wesselman, 1984
),
South Africa
(
de Graaff, 1961
),
Algeria
(
de Bruijn et al., 1970
;
Jaeger, 1975
), and outside of Africa on Mediterranean Rhodes Isl (
de Bruijn et al., 1970
,
1996
); see review by Denys (1999). The early Pliocene record of
Pelomys
from
Afghanistan
(
Sen et al., 1979
) is an example of the extinct
Parapelomys
(
Brandy et al., 1980
)
.