Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus Heuglin 1877

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 : 1195

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.7316535

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11333915

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F9B78619-C1A0-5283-EFBE-79A01D832F48

treatment provided by

Guido

scientific name

Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus Heuglin 1877
status

 

Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus Heuglin 1877 View in CoL

Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus Heuglin 1877 View in CoL , Reise in Nordost-Afrika, Vol. 2: 70.

Type Locality: EC Sudan, "Eastern Sennaar and about Kalabat" (G. M. Allen, 1939).

Vernacular Names: Gray Spiny Mouse.

Synonyms: Acomys (Acomys) cinerascens Heuglin 1877 ; Acomys (Acomys) hawashensis Frick 1914 ; Acomys (Acomys) hystrella Heller 1911 ; Acomys (Acomys) intermedius Wettstein 1916 ; Acomys (Acomys) johannis Thomas 1912 ; Acomys (Acomys) lowei Setzer 1956 ; Acomys (Acomys) witherbyi De Winton 1901 .

Distribution: C and S Sudan, N Uganda, C and S Ethiopia (specimens in USNM), and Djibouti ( Pearch et al., 2001); distributional limits unresolved.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Acomys . Formerly included in A. cahirinus (F. Petter, 1983; Setzer, 1975), but Dieterlen (in litt.) noted that A. cineraceus is a distinct species and one of four ( A. wilsoni , A. percivali , and A. cahirinus ) occurring in Sudan. Separation of cineraceus from A. cahirinus is supported by chromosomal data (2n = 48 or 50 for cineraceus , 2n = 36 for cahirinus ; Kunze et al., 1999 b) and analysis of pericentric satellite DNA ( Kunze et al., 1999 a). F. Petter (1983) recognized witherbyi as a species, and reported that it coexists with a member of the cahirinus-dimidiatus complex in Sudan. Both F. Petter (1983) and Denys et al. (1994) did not associate lowei (W Sudan) with A. cineraceus , but with A. mullah (see that account). In morphology, A. cineraceus closely resembles A. kempi (our study of specimens), which ranges from S Ethiopia and Somalia to NW Tanzania; systematic revision would reveal whether each is a species, or simply represents a population of one species. Limits of A. cineraceus ’s geographic range is unresolved, especially its W segment. Musser and Carleton (1993) extended the distribution west to Burkina Faso and Ghana, but at least two species occupy that wide range west of Sudan, Acomys airensis (2n = 40 to 46) and A. johannis (2n = 66 or 68); see those accounts. From their study of external and dental morphology of holotypes included in A. cineraceus, Denys et al. (1994:225) noted their "very superficial comparison shows that probably different species have been grouped together, and that there is a need for a revision of this group." We agree. For synonyms see Dieterlen (in litt.).

USNM

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Muridae

Genus

Acomys

Loc

Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus Heuglin 1877

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn 2005
2005
Loc

Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus

Heuglin 1877: 70
1877
GBIF Dataset (for parent article) Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF