Thallomys shortridgei Thomas and Hinton 1923

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 : 1510

Thallomys shortridgei Thomas and Hinton 1923

Thallomys shortridgei Thomas and Hinton 1923 , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1923: 492.

Type Locality: South Africa, Western Cape Province, Louisvale, S bank of Orange River.

Vernacular Names: Shortridge's Thallomys.

Distribution: South Africa; known only from south bank of Orange River from about Upington west to Goodhouse, Little Namaqualand, in Western Cape Province; limits unknown.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Thomas and Hinton's (1923 b) acute description points to a distinctive species distinguished by a diagnostic combination of chromatic and cranial traits (especially the small bullae). Ellerman (1941) treated shortridgei as a species, its distinction has been recognized by others ( Musser and Carleton, 1993; Roberts, 1951; Van Rooyen in De Graff, 1978), and despite recent checklists where it is listed as a subspecies of either T. paedulcus ( Meester et al., 1986) or T. nigricauda ( Skinner and Smithers, 1990) , the name identifies a valid species (our study of the holotype and specimens in MCZ).