Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus Heuglin 1877

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 : 1195

Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus Heuglin 1877

Acomys (Acomys) cineraceus Heuglin 1877 , Reise in Nordost-Afrika, Vol. 2: 70.

Type Locality: EC Sudan, "Eastern Sennaar and about Kalabat" (G. M. Allen, 1939).

Vernacular Names: Gray Spiny Mouse.

Synonyms: Acomys (Acomys) cinerascens Heuglin 1877 ; Acomys (Acomys) hawashensis Frick 1914 ; Acomys (Acomys) hystrella Heller 1911 ; Acomys (Acomys) intermedius Wettstein 1916 ; Acomys (Acomys) johannis Thomas 1912 ; Acomys (Acomys) lowei Setzer 1956 ; Acomys (Acomys) witherbyi De Winton 1901 .

Distribution: C and S Sudan, N Uganda, C and S Ethiopia (specimens in USNM), and Djibouti ( Pearch et al., 2001); distributional limits unresolved.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Acomys . Formerly included in A. cahirinus (F. Petter, 1983; Setzer, 1975), but Dieterlen (in litt.) noted that A. cineraceus is a distinct species and one of four ( A. wilsoni , A. percivali , and A. cahirinus ) occurring in Sudan. Separation of cineraceus from A. cahirinus is supported by chromosomal data (2n = 48 or 50 for cineraceus , 2n = 36 for cahirinus ; Kunze et al., 1999 b) and analysis of pericentric satellite DNA ( Kunze et al., 1999 a). F. Petter (1983) recognized witherbyi as a species, and reported that it coexists with a member of the cahirinus-dimidiatus complex in Sudan. Both F. Petter (1983) and Denys et al. (1994) did not associate lowei (W Sudan) with A. cineraceus , but with A. mullah (see that account). In morphology, A. cineraceus closely resembles A. kempi (our study of specimens), which ranges from S Ethiopia and Somalia to NW Tanzania; systematic revision would reveal whether each is a species, or simply represents a population of one species. Limits of A. cineraceus ’s geographic range is unresolved, especially its W segment. Musser and Carleton (1993) extended the distribution west to Burkina Faso and Ghana, but at least two species occupy that wide range west of Sudan, Acomys airensis (2n = 40 to 46) and A. johannis (2n = 66 or 68); see those accounts. From their study of external and dental morphology of holotypes included in A. cineraceus, Denys et al. (1994:225) noted their "very superficial comparison shows that probably different species have been grouped together, and that there is a need for a revision of this group." We agree. For synonyms see Dieterlen (in litt.).