Tachyoryctes splendens Rüppell 1835

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 : 925

Tachyoryctes splendens Rüppell 1835

Tachyoryctes splendens Rüppell 1835 , Neue Wirbelt. Fauna Abyssin. Gehorig. Saugeth., Vol. 1: 36.

Type Locality: Ethiopia, Dembea Prov., Gondar.

Vernacular Names: Northeast African Mole Rat.

Synonyms: Tachyoryctes canicaudus Osgood 1936 ; Tachyoryctes cheesmani Thomas 1928 ; Tachyoryctes gallarum Osgood 1936 ; Tachyoryctes omensis Neumann and Rümmler 1928 ; Tachyoryctes pontifex Neumann and Rümmler 1928 ; Tachyoryctes somalicus Osgood 1910 .

Distribution: Ethiopia (500-3900 m; Rupp, 1980), Somalia, and NW Kenya; limits unresolved.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Yalden et al. (1976:57) claimed that the synonyms listed here clearly apply to one species, but conceded that "The possibility of distinct races associated with different mountain blocks, or of a cline in size with altitude, remains to be properly examined." Osgood (1936) noted that two species, splendens and cheesemani, could be recognized among the Ethiopian samples he examined, and Bekele could distinguish samples of the two by morphometric traits but found that gallarum was intermediate. Early records indicated that T. splendens reached 3900 m in the Bale Mtns ( Yalden et al., 1976), but Yalden et al. (1995) observed that "neither the live animal nor its burrows have ever been observed above 3200" and that predators may have carried the specimens (mainly extracted from owl pellets) from lower elevations. Chromosomal characteristics of an Ethiopian sample (2n = 48, FN = 62) documented and contrasted with other rhizomyine samples by Baskevich et al. (1992, 1993). Distribution in the isolated Harenna Forest of S Ethiopia documented by Lavrenchenko (2000).