Myosorex cafer Sundevall 1846

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Soricomorpha, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 220-311 : 265

Myosorex cafer Sundevall 1846

Myosorex cafer Sundevall 1846 , Ofv. K. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Forhandl. Stockholm, Vol. 3: 119.

Type Locality: South Africa, "E Caffraria interiore et Port-Natal".

Vernacular Names: Dark-footed Mouse Shrew.

Synonyms: Myosorex swinnyi Chubb 1908 .

Distribution: South Africa, eastern escarpment from Eastern Cape Prov. north to Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces; extreme W Mozambique and E Zimbabwe, in higher elevations above 1,000 m.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Meester (1958) described the geographic variation of the species. Heim de Balsac and Meester (1977) included affinis , sclateri , swinnyi , talpinus , and tenuis in cafer , while Wolhuter (in Smithers, 1983:3) and Dippenaar et al. (1983) regarded sclateri and tenuis as distinct, partly based on new karyotype information ( M. cafer : 2n = 38). Although no additonal data have yet been published, this view is provisionally accepted here as it better reflects existing variation within the southern African representatives of the genus.