Gerbilliscus kempii ( Wroughton, 1906 )

Denys, Christiane, Missoup, Alain Didier, Nicolas, Violaine, Sylla, Morlaye, Douno, Mory, Kadjo, Blaise, Lalis, Aude & Monadjem, Ara, 2025, Annotated checklist of rodents from a biodiversity hotspot, Mount Nimba (West Africa), Zoosystema 47 (27), pp. 617-689 : 630

Gerbilliscus kempii ( Wroughton, 1906)

Tatera kempii Wroughton, 1906: 375 .

REMARKS

Four species of Gerbilliscus occur in West Africa ( Granjon et al. 2012) and are easily distinguished by chromosomal and molecular data but not by external characters. G. kempii Wroughton, 1906 is characterized by a karyotype of 2N =46, NFa =64 ( Colangelo et al. 2005, Volobouev et al. 2007), G. guineae Thomas, 1910 by 2N= 50, FN=64; G. gambianus by 2N = 52, NF =64 ( Granjon 2005, Volobouev et al. 2007) and Gerbilliscus giffardi Wroughton, 1906 by 2N= 48, FN=64 ( Volobouev et al. 2007). Twelve specimens of Gerbilliscus were collected by Heim de Balsac & Lamotte (1958; but attributed to G. kempii ) and Gautun et al. (1986; as G. hopkinsoni synonymized under kempii ) but none on the Liberian side of the Mount according to Coe (1975). According to Gautun et al. (1986), the Nimba specimens they collected at 1600 m a.s.l. were displaying a 2N =46 karyotype. After a molecular and morphometric analysis of West African Gerbilliscus, Granjon et al. (2012) suggested that the Gerbilliscus sp. specimens with 2N=46 may correspond to G. kempii and those previously called G. kempii in the literature may refer to G. giffardi . However, the authors also stressed that a revision of all West African Gerbilliscus taxa was needed before this assertion could be tested. Therefore, to avoid confusion, we will not use the taxonomy proposed by Granjon et al. (2012) in subsequent paragraphs. Based on our new Liberian specimen, plus Nimba old collection specimens and the karyotyped or sequenced ones, we performed a Canonical Variate Analysis on 10 cranial dimensions and 18 genotyped specimens plus the holotypes of G. guineae , G. kempii , G. gambiana and G. hopkinsoni ( Fig. 6). The analysis allowed for an unambiguous attribution of the Nimba specimens to G. kempii . Hence, we confirmed that all the Nimba specimens belong to G. kempii and the holotype of G. hopkinsoni fitted well with G. kempii with a correct classification percentage of 95.45%.

Heim de Balsac & Lamotte (1958) reported the presence of G. kempii in Ziéla (2 indiv.). According to these authors, this gerbil is large, the tail has no terminal pencil and is brown. It was also collected in pellets of the Western Barn Owl ( Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769)) in Gouécké. During Mission 1, no new specimens were collected but one dead animal was photographed in Serengbara ( Appendix 5). In Mission 3 we collected a dead Gerbilliscus individual at the border with Guinea in edaphic savanna. This specimen was not barcoded. The hind foot length was similar to that of the G. kempii holotype, and close to the G. kempii specimen that we identified genetically. The recently collected Liberian specimen (2014-980) was similar in its body proportions to the older Nimba specimens collected by Lamotte ( Table 7 ). The specimen collected by Lamotte (MNHN-ZM-MO-1997-1563) displays a typical light brown dorsal pelage above and white below. The tail is brown above and white below and does not end in a terminal tuft of hair. The tail is slightly shorter than the HB length.