Dendromus insignis (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 : 542

Dendromus insignis (Thomas, 1903) . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 12:341.

TYPE LOCALITY: Kenya, Nandi .

DISTRIBUTION: Discontinuous highland range from Ethiopia ( Yalden et al., 1976, recorded under mesomelas ), E Kenya ( Hollister, 1919), Western Rift mountains from W Uganda south to Rwanda, and Mt. Kilimanjaro in NE Tanzania; extent of montane distribution unknown.

SYNONYMS: abyssiniens , kilimandjari, percivali .

COMMENTS: Although insignis is now included in D. mesomelas ( Bohmann, 1942; Misonne, 1974), Thomas (1916b) noted that the "lumping of insignis with the southern D. mesomelas " appeared to be "unfounded," an evaluation matching our conclusion based on study of specimens. D. insignis is easily distinguished from D. mesomelas by its very large body size and cranial traits. Furthermore, it occurs at the same localities in the Western Rift mountains as D. kivu , which is the species most like D. mesomelas . Bohmann (1939) described kilimandjari as a subspecies of D. mesomelas .