Acomys (Acomys) percivali Dollman 1911

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 : 1199

Acomys (Acomys) percivali Dollman 1911

Acomys (Acomys) percivali Dollman 1911 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 8: 126.

Type Locality: Kenya, Chanler Falls, Nyiro.

Vernacular Names: Percival's Spiny Mouse.

Distribution: S Sudan (east of White Nile), E Uganda, SW Ethiopia, and Kenya; see Bates (1994).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Acomys . Treated as a synonym of kempi , which in turn was included within A. cahirinus by Setzer (1975). However, Hollister (1919) recognized percivali as a species based upon many specimens he examined, as did Ellerman (1941) and F. Petter (1983). Hubert (1978 b) identified specimens from Ethiopia as A. percivali , and Neal (1983) used percivali as a species in comparing breeding patterns between it and A. wilsoni in C Kenya. Janecek et al. (1991) regarded percivali as the species genetically most closely related to A. wilsoni , and Denys et al. (1994) noted the nearly identical molar morphology in the two species. Matthey (1968) recorded a karyotype (2n = 36, FN = 68) for what he identified as A. percivali from Ethiopia, but Sokolov et al. (1992, 1993) regarded Matthey’s results as applying to A. cahirinus . See account of A. wilsoni .