Diplothrix legatus (Thomas, 1906)

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 : 591

Diplothrix legatus (Thomas, 1906) . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 17:88.

TYPE LOCALITY: Japan, Ryukyu Isis, Amami-oshima Isl .

DISTRIBUTION: Japan, Ryukyu Isis of Amami-oshima, Tokun-oshima, and Okinawa (known by modern specimens only in north, but by Quaternary fossils from farther south on island, and from Miyako Isl about 250 km S W of Okinawa) (see Kawamura, 1989).

SYNONYMS: bowersii var. okinavensis .

COMMENTS: Historical and incorrect allocation of legatus with Lenothrix and Rattus is reviewed by Kawamura (1989). Phylogenetic relationship, discerned from molar occlusal patterns, close to Rattus and far from Lenothrix ; "phylogeny of this unique genus will be sufficiently understood, when the fossil murids from China, India and Southeast Asia will be investigated in detail" (Kawmura, 1989:110). Chromosomal data reviewed by Tsuchiya (1981).