Cricetomys ansorgei Thomas 1904

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Nesomyidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 930-955 : 932

Cricetomys ansorgei Thomas 1904

Cricetomys ansorgei Thomas 1904 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 13: 412.

Type Locality: Angola, Pungo Andongo.

Vernacular Names: Southern Giant Pouched Rat.

Synonyms: Cricetomys adventor Thomas and Wroughton 1907 ; Cricetomys cosensi Hinton 1919 ; Cricetomys cunctator Thomas and Wroughton 1908 ; Cricetomys elgonis Thomas 1910 ; Cricetomys enguvi Heller 1912 ; Cricetomys haagneri Roberts 1926 ; Cricetomys kenyensis Osgood 1910 ; Cricetomys luteus Dollman 1911 ; Cricetomys microtis Lönnberg 1917 ; Cricetomys osgoodi Heller 1912 ; Cricetomys raineyi Heller 1912 ; Cricetomys selindensis Roberts 1946 ; Cricetomys vaughanjonesi St. Leger 1937 ; Cricetomys viator Thomas 1904 .

Distribution: Kenya and E and S Uganda, southwards exclusive of Congo forest block, to W and S Angola ( Crawford-Cabral, 1998:Map 21), S Zambia, E Zimbabwe, and NE South Africa (Limpopo Province and NE KwaZulu-Natal); including Zanzibar.

Discussion: Cranial proportions simililar to C. gambianus but size larger and skull robustly constructed (LM1-3 typically 11-12 mm versus 10-11 mm), dominant tones of dorsal pelage brown compared with grayish of C. gambianus ; as equally differentiated in multivariate space from C. gambianus as from C. emini . Other morphological and ecological contrasts to C. gambianus enumerated (as C. g. ansorgei ) by Genest-Villard (1967). Even as arranged, ansorgei is likely a species complex. Populations that occur on mountains in East Africa ( elgonis , enguvi , kenyensis , microtis ), each retained as well differentiated but localized subspecies of C. gambianus by Genest-Villard (1967), invite detailed investigation; certain populations may plausibly link with C. kivuensis from Western Rift Mtns. Also, cosensi , described as a species from Zanzibar, was considered by Hinton (1919 b) to be related to the emini complex.