Cryptomys damarensis (Ogilby 1838)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Bathyergidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1538-1542 : 1539

Cryptomys damarensis (Ogilby 1838)

[Bathyergus] damarensis Ogilby 1838 , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1838: 5.

Type Locality: Namibia, Damaraland.

Vernacular Names: Damara Mole-rat.

Synonyms: Cryptomys lugardi (de Winton 1898) ; Cryptomys micklemi (Chubb 1909) ; Cryptomys ovamboensis Roberts 1946 .

Distribution: E Namibia, Botswana, W Zimbabwe, S Zambia, S Angola.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Included as a subspecies of hottentotus by de Graaff (1975, 1981) but considered a distinct species based on characteristics of the infraorbital foramina by Honeycutt et al. (1991). Protein electrophoretic data ( Filippucci et al., 1994; 1997) suggest this taxon is more closely related to anselli , kafuensis , and mechowi than to hottentotus . Karyotype has 2n=74 or 78 and FN=92 ( Nevo et al., 1986).