107.

Agag Gerbil

Gerbillus agag

French: Gerbille dAgageh / German: Agag-Rennmaus / Spanish: Gerbillo de Agag

Taxonomy. Gerbillus agag Thomas, 1903,

Agageh Wells, W Kordofan, Sudan.

Gerbillus agag is in the subgenus Gerbillus . For some authors, such as D. C. D. Happold in 2013, the name G. agag is a syno-nym of G. cosensi; for some others, including F. Petter in 1975, G. G.Musser and M. D. Carleton in 2005, and A. Monadjem and colleagues in 2015, G. cosensi is synonym of G. agag . The name G. agag is here retained as valid pending further studies. D. M. Lay in 1983 considered that both G. agag and G. cosensi are valid. There are no genetic data. Moreover, D. Kock in 1978 recognized four additional subspecies: maradius, migeniae, rosalinda, and sudanensis. Subspecies nigeriae and rosalinda have now been accorded species rank, but a thorough revision of this group is still needed. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

G.a.agagThomas,1903—Mali,SNiger,NNigeria,extremeNCameroon,WCChad,SWSudan,extremeSESouthSudan,andWKenya.

G.a.maradiusKock,1978—knownonlyfromthetypelocalityinextremeSNiger.

G. a. sudanensis Setzer, 1956 — NC & NE Sudan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 90-135 mm, tail 100-143 mm, ear 13-20 mm, hindfoot 25-30 mm; weight 30-34 g. This is quite a large gerbil of the genus Gerbillus . It has hairy hindfeet soles and a long (125% of head-body length) tail.

Habitat. No information.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List pending further studies.

Bibliography. Happold (2013a), Kock (1978b), Lay (1983), Monadjem et al. (2015), Musser & Carleton (2005), Petter (1975a).