Rhizomys sinensis Gray 1831

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 : 914

Rhizomys sinensis Gray 1831

Rhizomys sinensis Gray 1831 , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1831: 95.

Type Locality: China, Guangdon, near Canton.

Vernacular Names: Chinese Bamboo Rat.

Synonyms: Rhizomys chinensis Swinhoe 1870 ; Rhizomys davidi Thomas 1911 ; Rhizomys neowardi Wang 2003 ; Rhizomys pediculus Wang 2003 ; Rhizomys reductus Dao and Cao 1990 ; Rhizomys vestitus Milne-Edwards 1871 ; Rhizomys wardi Thomas 1921 .

Distribution: S China (Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, north to S Gansu and S Shaanxi, east and south through Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi; G. M. Allen, 1940; Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951; Wang, 1990; Zhang et al., 1997; Zheng and Zhang, 1990), N Burma ( Ellerman, 1961), and N Vietnam ( Dang et al., 1994).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Reviewed by Corbet and Hill (1992); G. M. Allen (1940) and Ellerman (1961) offered excellent portrayals concerning morphology, distribution, taxonomy, and ecology. Dao and Cao (1990) described reductus as a subspecies of R. sinensis from N Vietnam. Corbet and Hill (1992) listed troglodytes , which is based on Chinese fossils, in the synonymy of R. sinensis following Cao (1985), but Zheng (1993) documented fossils identified as R. sinensis and R. troglodytes from Pleistocene cave sediments in the Sichuan-Guizhou region. Wang (2003) recognized R. wardi as a species, with neowardi as subspecies.