Oryzorictes A. Grandidier, 1870

Denys, Christiane, Gabriel, Nadine W., Lalis, Aude & Jenkins, Paulina, 2024, Subfossil rodents and tenrecs of Children’s Cave, Madagascar, Journal of Natural History 58 (25 - 28), pp. 796-839 : 818

Genus Oryzorictes A. Grandidier, 1870

Two species of Oryzorictes are generally accepted as present in Madagascar, O . hova A. Grandidier, 1870 and O. tetradactylus Milne-Edwards and A. Grandidier, 1882 . Three cryptic species, however, have recently been determined within O. hova based on molecular and morphological evidence but as yet remain unnamed ( Everson et al. 2018). Both named species occur in the Central Highlands ; Oryzorictes hova is widely distributed and ranked as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List ( Stephenson et al. 2016), although the status of cryptic species under this name will require future re-evaluation. Oryzorictes tetradactylus is ranked as Data Deficient as it is known mostly from specimens collected in Central and East Madagascar late in the nineteenth century, including those collected by Major at Antsirabe and the relatively close localities of Fasina (19°45’S, 46° 56’E) and Andranobe (19°49’S, 46°59’E) ( Jenkins and Carleton 2005). This species has not been recorded at any of the Protected Area sites in the Central Highlands, unlike O . cf. hova which is listed from three such sites: Ambohitantely, Anjozorobe-Angavo and Marolambo (Goodman et al. 2018). There are a few records of this species from Andringitra in 1970, two at high altitudes of 2030 m and 2470 m, respectively; however, no specimens were discovered during the elevational survey of the eastern slopes of Andringitra in 1993 ( Goodman et al. 1996a). The skull of O. hova is more robust than that of O. tetradactylus , averages larger in size ( Table 5) and has larger molars.