Muriculus Thomas, 1903

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 621

Muriculus Thomas, 1903 . Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1902(2):314 [1903].

TYPE SPECIES: Mus imberbis Rüppell, 1842 .

COMMENTS: When Thomas proposed Muriculus he suggested it might be related to Lophuromys , but Osgood (1936) found little affinity between the two genera and instead noted a closer morphological relationship with Mus and Zelotomys . The close tie to Mus is real, and Misonne (1974) suggested that Muriculus might be merged with Mus ; however, the middorsal stripe and morphological specializations of rostrum, mandible, incisors, and increased expanse of incisor enamel associated with pronounced proodonty, are not part of the character suite defining Mus , and set Muriculus apart as a very distinctive genus.