Zyzomys Thomas, 1909

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 674

Zyzomys Thomas, 1909 . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 3:372.

TYPE SPECIES: Mus argurus Thomas, 1889 .

SYNONYMS: Laomys .

COMMENTS: Member of the Australian Old Endemics ( Musser, 1981c:167) or Conilurini of Baverstock (1984) and Lee et al. (1981). Taxonomy of species appraised by Kitchener (1989). Chromosomal morphology distinct from other Australian murines ( Baverstock et al., 1977c), but this result was not supported by electrophoretic data ( Baverstock et al., 1981), and G-banding homologies suggested karyotype of Zyzomys "to be derived from the ancestral karyotype characterizing Conilurus , Mesembriomys , and Leggadina ” ( Baverstock et al., 1983b). Molar traits resembled those characterizing Conilurus ( Misonne, 1969) , but phallic characters linked Zyzomys to Pseudomys and its close relatives ( Lidicker and Brylski, 1987). Data from microcomplement fixation of albumin indicated Zyzomys belongs in a clade with Mesembriomys , Conilurus , Leporillus , and Melomys ( Watts et al., 1992). External morphology of glans penis and spermatozoal structure reported by Breed, 1984), Breed and Sarafis, 1978; and Morrissey and Breed (1982). Mahoney and Richardson (1988) cataloged taxonomic, distributional, and biological references to some of the species.