Petromyscus shortridgei Thomas 1926

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 : 955

Petromyscus shortridgei Thomas 1926

Petromyscus shortridgei Thomas 1926 , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1926: 302.

Type Locality: Extreme S Angola, Ruacana Falls, 3350 ft (1021 m).

Vernacular Names: Shortridge's Pygmy Rock Mouse.

Distribution: W and S Angola and N Namibia (S to Erongo Mtns and Okahandja region); limits unknown.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Reviewed by Skinner and Smithers (1990) and de Graaff (1997 ll). Roberts (1951) treated shortridgei as a subspecies of P. bruchus , and Meester et al. (1986) listed it as a subspecies of P. collinus . However, Thomas’ species description correctly expressed the distinctness of the animal; also see Schlitter (in Meester et al., 1986) and Skinner and Smithers (1990). The larger size of P. shortridgei , darker fur with a less silky texture, and lack of postaxillary teats clearly separate it from P. collinus , a judgement based upon AMNH and FMNH specimens, which also inform our estimate of its geographic range. Crawford-Cabral (1998) recorded P. shortridgei only from the vicinity of Ruacana Falls, S Angola near the Namibia border, and speculated that the specimen ( AMNH 81915) from farther north at Coporolo represented P. collinus . External and cranial morphology of the Coporolo specimen falls within the range of variation in P. shortridgei (as identified by Hill and Carter, 1941:104), not P. collinus . The two species overlap in distribution in SW Angola and N Namibia but have not been collected at the same place.