Tachyoryctes daemon Thomas 1909

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Spalacidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 907-926 : 923

Tachyoryctes daemon Thomas 1909

Tachyoryctes daemon Thomas 1909 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 4: 545.

Type Locality: N Tanzania, Mt Kilimanjaro, 5000 ft (1524 m).

Vernacular Names: Demon African Mole Rat.

Distribution: N Tanzania in foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro, the Arushu area, upper limits of forest at 4000 m on Mt Meru, and in the west at Banagi in Mara Prov near Lake Victoria; limits of distribution unresolved.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Thomas (1909 b) remarked that daemon was "markedly smaller than in T. ibeanus " and could be distinguished from T. ankoliae by its linear sagittal crest and from T. ruddi by its "more abruptly and widely expanded zygomata." Genetic relationships between the small-bodied T. daemon , T. naivashae (north of Kenya-Tanzania border), and T. ruddi (SW Kenya, Mt Elgon, SW Uganda, and NW Tanzania) need to be evaluated to determine whether a single species is represented. Distribution and ecology of T. daemon on Mt Kilimanjaro reviewed by Grimshaw et al. (1995). Distributional records are from Hollister (1919) and Swynnerton and Hayman (1951), who also listed daemon as a species. The latter authors recorded the species from NW Tanzania but those occurrences likely represent T. ruddi (see that account).