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
Leopoldamys edwardsi
(Thomas 1882)
[Leopoldamys] edwardsi
(
Thomas 1882
)
,
Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1882: 587
.
Type Locality:
China
, mountains of W
Fujian
(probably Kuatun).
Vernacular Names:
Edward's Leopoldamys
.
Synonyms:
Leopoldamys garonum
(Thomas 1921)
;
Leopoldamys gigas
(Satunin 1903)
;
Leopoldamys hainanensis
(
Xu and Yu 1985
)
;
Leopoldamys listeri
(Thomas 1916)
;
Leopoldamys melli
(Matschie 1922)
.
Distribution:
NW
India
(W Bengal,
Arunachal Pradesh
,
Meghalaya
, and
Nagaland
;
Agrawal, 2000
;
Ellerman, 1961
); N
Burma
(
Anthony, 1941
;
Ellerman, 1961
), S and C
China
(to S
Anhui
, including
Hainan
Isl; G. M. Allen [1940]
Liu et al. [1985]
,
Wang [2003]
,
Wu et al. [1996]
), N
Laos
(
Ellerman, 1961
;
Osgood, 1932
), N and C
Vietnam
(
Dang et al., 1994
;
Lunde et al., 2003
b
;
Osgood, 1932
), and isolated montane population in N
Thailand
(Phu Kadeung Plateau,
Loei Province
; J.
T
. Marshall, Jr., 1977
a
). Range (excluding
ciliatus
and
milleti
) mostly extracted from
Musser (1981
b
)
,
Corbet and Hill (1992)
, and specimens examined in
AMNH
,
BMNH
,
FMNH
,
IEBR
,
MVZ
,
RMBR
, and
USNM
.
Conservation:
IUCN
– Lower Risk (lc).
Discussion:
Requires taxonomic revision. Association of the synonyms with
L. edwardsi
essentially derives from Osgood’s (1932:311) suggestion, which has yet to be tested by careful systematic study. Osgood included the Malayan and Sumatran
ciliatus
(including
setiger
), along with the S
Vietnam
milleti
, as forms of
L. edwardsi
, but we list them as separate species. In addition to the synonyms assembled by
Osgood (1932)
and
Musser (1981
b
)
,
Xu and Yu (1985)
described
hainanensis
from Hainan Isl. Those specimens have significantly smaller external, cranial, and dental measurements than characterize other samples of
L. edwardsi
and if adults may represent a separate species. Phallic morphology described by
Yang and Fang (1988)
in context of assessing phylogenetic relationships among Chinese murines. Ecological relationships with species of
Bandicota
,
Mus
,
Maxomys
,
Niviventer
, and
Rattus
in S Yunnan reported by
Wu et al. (1996)
.
A large series (in
AMNH
and
IEBR
) collected between 200 and
1200
m in
the N Truong Son Range along the N Vietnam-Laos border in Hà
T
«nh Province of
Vietnam
resembles
L. edwardsi
in pelage coloration but approaches
L. sabanus
in relative tail length and other features. Comparison of their mtDNA cytochrome
b
sequences with sequences from
L. sabanus
and
L. edwardsi
taken farther north in
Vietnam
isolates the Hà
T
«nh sample as a separate species for which no name is currently available (J. L. Patton, in litt., 1999). How this population phylogenetically is related to samples now identified as
L. edwardsi
from N
Laos
and
Thailand
as well as NE
India
and N
Burma
requires systematic resolution. Fossils identified as
L. edwardsi
come from early Pleistocene to Recent cave sediments in the Sichuan-Guozhou region of S
China
(
Zheng, 1993
)
.