Myomyscus brockmani (Thomas 1908)

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 : 1414

Myomyscus brockmani (Thomas 1908)

[Myomyscus] brockmani (Thomas 1908) , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 18: 298.

Type Locality: Somalia ( British Somaliland), Upper Sheikh.

Vernacular Names: Brockman's Myomyscus.

Synonyms: Myomyscus allisoni (Hayman 1960) ; Myomyscus niveiventris ( Osgood 1910) ; Myomyscus oweni Setzer 1956 ; Myomyscus subfuscus ( Osgood 1910) ; Myomyscus ulae (Heller 1910) .

Distribution: Primarily tree savannas from EC Tanzania north through Kenya ( Hollister, 1919) and N Uganda ( Delany, 1975) into Somalia, SE Ethiopia ( Yalden et al., 1976, 1996; specimens in CM), and S Sudan ( Setzer, 1956); W and S limits unknown.

Discussion: Chromosomal and immunological data indicate close relationship with species of Mastomys ( Qumsiyeh et al., 1990) , an alliance also suggested by analyses of mtDNA cytochrome b sequences ( Lecompte et al., 2002 b). Analyses of nuclear IRBP gene sequences, however, indicates brockmani , along with M. yemeni , to be closely allied to species of Stenocephalemys and should be included in that genus ( Lecompte, 2003). Spermatozoal morphology described by Baskovich and Lavrenchenko (1995, as fumatus ). This species has traditionally been known as M. fumatus ( Musser and Carleton, 1993) , but Van der Straeten and Robbins (1997) demonstrated the holotype of fumatus to be an example of Mastomys and not Myomys (Musser independently examined the holotype and identified it as a Mastomys ). We include fumatus in the synonymy of Mastomys natalensis (see that account). The next oldest name available for this species of Myomyscus is Thomas’s (1908) brockmani . Yalden et al. (1976) included tana in the synonymy but the holotype is a Mastomys ( Van der Straeten and Robbins, 1997) .