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
Dendromus
Smith, 1829
.
Zool. J. London, 4:438
.
TYPE SPECIES:
Dendromus typus
Smith, 1829
(=
Mus mesomelas
Brants, 1827
).
SYNONYMS:
Chortomys
,
Dendromys
,
Poemys
.
COMMENTS: In his checklist of African mammals,
Allen (1939)
listed 28 species of
Dendromus
,
which was reduced to four by
Bohmann's (1942)
revision.
Dieterlen (1971)
focused on reporting morphological, ecological, and other traits of the central African forms and recognized five species from that region. We recognize eleven. Definitions of
D. kahuziensis
,
D. lovati
,
D. insignis
,
D. vernayi
,
and
D. nyikae
are clear, even though the first two are known by few specimens. Four
(
D. melanotis
,
D. mesomelas
,
D. messorius
,
and
D. mystacalis
)
need to be systematically revised—each may actually be
a complex
of species; some synonyms associated with each of them may be incorrectly allocated. Two others,
D. kivu
and
D. oreas
require critical comparison with samples of true
D. mesomelas
to resolve their affinities. Chromosomal information for several species was reported by Matthey (1967, 1970).