Otomys cuanzensis Hill and Carter 1937

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1525

Otomys cuanzensis Hill and Carter 1937

Otomys cuanzensis Hill and Carter 1937 , Am. Mus . Novit., 913: 7.

Type Locality: Angola, Chitau, 4930 ft.

Vernacular Names: Cuanza Vlei Rat.

Distribution: C Angola; limits uncertain.

Discussion: Described as a species, but Bohmann (1952) drew it within his polytypic interpretation of O. irroratus , its usual allocation thereafter (Crawford-Cabral, 1986; Ellerman et al., 1953; Meester et al., 1986; Misonne, 1974). Musser and Carleton (1993) mistakenly aligned cuanzensis as a synonym of O. maximus , but its affinity lies with O. irroratus proper, as appreciated by Crawford-Cabral (1986). Hill and Carter’s (1937) specific description is terse, contrasting cuanzensis solely with Angolan populations of the very different form maximus , not irroratus in the strict sense. The holotype ( AMNH 85841) and referred specimens ( AMNH series) of cuanzensis approximate O. irroratus in overall size and uniformly possess a six-laminated M3 and large stapedial foramen; however, they differ from O. irroratus in their predominantly brown dorsal pelage and narrower nasals, a contrast also remarked by Bohmann (1952). In view of such differences, the apparently wide geographic hiatus from southern African O. irroratus , and the pronounced karyotypic and genetic substructuring known for even contiguous populations of the latter (e.g., Contrafatto et al., 1997; Taylor, 2000 b), we retain cuanzensis as species until its relationships and status can be critically assessed.