Steatomys Peters 1846

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 : 943

Steatomys Peters 1846

Steatomys Peters 1846 , Bericht Verhandl. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 11: 258.

Type Species: Steatomys pratensis Peters 1846

Species and subspecies: 8 species:

Species Steatomys bocagei Thomas 1892

Species Steatomys caurinus Thomas 1912

Species Steatomys cuppedius Thomas and Hinton 1920

Species Steatomys jacksoni Hayman 1935

Species Steatomys krebsii Peters 1852

Species Steatomys opimus Pousargues 1894

Species Steatomys parvus Rhoads 1896

Species Steatomys pratensis Peters 1846

Discussion: At least 18 species were recognized (G. M. Allen, 1939; Ellerman, 1941) until Coetzee (1977 a) provisionally acknowledged only three. Based upon study of relevant literature and museum specimens, we identify eight, but relationship between the three West African forms and the five outside that region has yet to be resolved and the widely distributed S. pratensis and S. parvus need systematic revision. Rosevear (1969) provided an excellent exposition of the West African species, and Swanepoel and Schlitter (1978) produced a more comprehensive revision of them. Still, their definitions are unsatisfactory and distributional limits unresolved; Coetzee (1977 a), e.g., included some West African species recognized by Swanepoel and Schlitter (1978) in either S. pratensis or S. parvus . Fossil history extends to the Pliocene ( Avery, 1998, 2000; Denys, 1987 a) and late Miocene ( Senut et al., 1992).