Montane African Climbing Mouse

discussion

Discussion: Although insignis has been included in D. mesomelas (Bohmann, 1942; Misonne, 1974), Thomas (1916 b) cautioned that the " lumping of insignis with the southern D. mesomelas " appeared to be " unfounded, " an evaluation sustained by specimen study. Dendromus insignis is distinguished easily from the South African D. mesomelas by larger body size, shorter pelage, darker upperparts with a more prominent stripe, dark gray or grayish buff underparts (white washed with buff or ochraceous in D. mesomelas), larger skull and longer molar rows, and interorbital and postorbital shape. Bohmann (1939) described the large-bodied kilimandjari as a subspecies of D. mesomelas, but the name identifies another montane population of D. insignis (study of BMNH paratypes); Thomas (1916 b) explained why percivali is a synonym; and allocation of abyssinicus is based upon our inspection of the FMNH holotype. Prior to 1991, most literature references to D. mesomelas in mountains north of the Southern African Subregion actually represent either D. insignis or D. nyasae (see account), which may co-occur in the Western Rift mountains. In the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, Uganda, D. insignis and

Order Rodentia - Family Nesomyidae

distribution

Distribution: Discontinuous in bamboo, heath, and alpine zones, ca. 3000 - 4700 m, of East Africa — Ethiopia (Yalden et al., 1976, 1996; AMNH 81105) through W Kenya (Hollister, 1919; AMNH, MCZ, and USNM series) and Mt Elgon on the Kenya-Uganda border (Clausnitzer, 2001; reported as mesomelas), to Mt Kilimanjaro (Shore and Garbett, 1991; Grimshaw et al., 1995; FMNH specimens); also Western Rift mountains from W Uganda (Rwenzoris, Kerbis Peterhans et al., 1998) south to W Rwanda and E Dem. Rep. Congo (Kivu region; large samples in AMNH, BMNH, and FMNH); distributional extent unknown.

Order Rodentia - Family Nesomyidae

discussion

COMMENTS: Although insignis is now included in D. mesomelas (Bohmann, 1942; Misonne, 1974), Thomas (1916 b) noted that the " lumping of insignis with the southern D. mesomelas " appeared to be " unfounded, " an evaluation matching our conclusion based on study of specimens. D. insignis is easily distinguished from D. mesomelas by its very large body size and cranial traits. Furthermore, it occurs at the same localities in the Western Rift mountains as D. kivu, which is the species most like D. mesomelas. Bohmann (1939) described kilimandjari as a subspecies of D. mesomelas.

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

distribution

DISTRIBUTION: Discontinuous highland range from Ethiopia (Yalden et al., 1976, recorded under mesomelas), E Kenya (Hollister, 1919), Western Rift mountains from W Uganda south to Rwanda, and Mt. Kilimanjaro in NE Tanzania; extent of montane distribution unknown.

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae