Order Rodentia - Family Nesomyidae
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
930
955
book chapter
0-8018-8221-4
10.5281/zenodo.7316535
Beamys
Thomas 1909
Beamys
Thomas 1909
,
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 4: 107
.
Type Species:
Beamys hindei
Thomas 1909
Species and subspecies:
2 species:
Species
Beamys hindei
Thomas 1909
Species
Beamys major
Dollman 1914
Discussion:
Cricetomyini, new rank. Two species have been generally recognized as originally described (e.g., G. M.
Allen, 1939
;
Ellerman, 1941
; Ellerman et al., 1953;
Hanney, 1965
;
Misonne, 1974
), until
Hubbard (1970)
, without presentation of data, suggested their synonymy, a classification adopted by some (e.g.,
Ansell, 1978
;
Ansell and Ansell, 1973
;
Corbet and Hill, 1991
;
Honacki et al., 1982
) but not others (
Musser and Carleton, 1993
).
Ansell and Ansell (1973)
, while following Hubbard’s opinion, did present limited measurements that demonstrate the uniformly larger size of
major
compared with
hindei
. The number of species, their morphological discrimination, and vouchered distribution deserve the attention of a full generic revision. Emphasis should be given to those
Beamys
populations that occur in the Eastern Arc Mtns, whether more closely related to
major
proper from uplands in NE
Zambia
and
Malawi
or to
hindei
from lower dry coastal forest in SE
Kenya
and E
Tanzania
.