Tachyoryctes macrocephalus Rüppell 1842

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 : 924

Tachyoryctes macrocephalus Rüppell 1842

Tachyoryctes macrocephalus Rüppell 1842 , Mus . Senckenberg., 3: 97.

Type Locality: Ethiopia, Shoa.

Vernacular Names: Ethiopian African Mole Rat.

Synonyms: Tachyoryctes hecki Neumann and Rümmler 1928 .

Distribution: Ethiopia; endemic to high southern plateau, 3000-4150 m ( Rupp, 1980; Yalden and Largen, 1992; Yalden et al., 1996).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Inhabitant of Afro-alpine moorland and grassland, which the species shares with the other Ethiopian endemics Stenocephalemys albocaudata , Lophuromys melanonyx , and Arvicanthis blicki ( Yalden, 1988) . The congenor T. splendens ranges from below 1000 m to about 3000 m, where it apparently overlaps the lower altitudinal distribution of T. macrocephalus ( Rupp, 1980; Yalden et al., 1976). Yalden (1975) provided ecological observations for T. macrocephalus and morphologically contrasted it with T. splendens . Habitat selection and daily activity patterns in relation to the endangered Ethiopian wolf ( Canis simensis ) recorded by Sillero-Zubiri et al. (1995 b). See Yalden (1985, Mammalian Species, 237).