Order Rodentia - Family Muridae Author Guy G. Musser Author Michael D. Carleton text 1993 Smithsonian Institution Press Washington and London Editor Don E. Wilson Editor DeeAnn M. Reeder Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition) 501 755 book chapter http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7353098 1-56098-217-9 7353098 Otomys typus Heuglin, 1877 . Reise in Nordost-Afrika, 2:77 . TYPE LOCALITY: Abyssinia (= Ethiopia ), Shoa . DISTRIBUTION: Disjunct occurrence at high elevations in E Africa, from Ethiopian highlands south through Uganda and W Kenya , to the Nyika Plateau of N Malawi and adjacent Zambia and to the Uzungwe Mnts of C Tanzania . SYNONYMS: dartmouthi , degeni , fortior , giloensis, helleri , jacksoni , malkensis, malleus, orestes , percivali , thomasi , squalus, uzungwensis , zinki . COMMENTS: Dieterlen (1968) and Petter (1982) viewed typus as another variant of a highly polymorphic O. irroratus , a conclusion which seems at odds with their morphological discrimination as presented elsewhere (e.g., Ansell, 1978 ; Bohmann, 1952 ; Kingdon, 1974; Misonne, 1974 ). The list of synonyms observes the classifications of Bohmann (1952) and Misonne (1974) . Their conspecific stature is highly suspect and invites rigorous specimen-based corroboration that also addresses possible relationships to certain forms masquerading under tropicalis . The occurrence of greater species endemism thoughout the isolated East African highlands and volcanoes deserves more serious consideration than it has received to date.