Otomys saundersiae Roberts 1929

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 : 1529

Otomys saundersiae Roberts 1929

Otomys saundersiae Roberts 1929 , Ann. Transvaal Mus ., 13: 115.

Type Locality: South Africa, Eastern Cape Province, Grahamstown.

Vernacular Names: Saunders' Vlei Rat.

Synonyms: Otomys karoensis Roberts 1931 .

Distribution: Isolated populations in Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Free State provinces, South Africa, and in Lesotho.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Roberts (1929) named saundersiae as a subspecies of tugelensis (= O. angoniensis ) but later (1951) raised it to full species, as commonly recognized in the literature (e.g., Corbet and Hill, 1991; De Graaff, 1981; Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1953; Misonne, 1974; Meester et al., 1986). The form karoensis , in Western Cape Province, has been variously treated as a species (G. M. Allen, 1939; Bohmann, 1952; Roberts, 1931; Taylor et al., 1993) or as a distinctive subspecies of O. saundersiae ( Roberts, 1951; Taylor et al., in prep.). Taylor et al. (1993, as karoensis ; in prep.) provided morphological bases for discrimination of O. saundersiae from O. irroratus , evaluated geographic and nongeographic variation, and contrasted G-banded karyotypes. The apparent rarity of O. saundersiae populations in the region of its type locality, Eastern Cape Province, is discussed by Taylor et al. (in prep.).