Xerus (Euxerus) erythropus (E. Geoffroy 1803)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Sciuridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 754-818 : 790

Xerus (Euxerus) erythropus (E. Geoffroy 1803)

[Xerus (Euxerus)] erythropus (E. Geoffroy 1803) , in: Cat. Mamm. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris: 178.

Type Locality: Senegal (neotype). Origin of original type unknown. "Inconnue." .

Vernacular Names: Striped Ground Squirrel.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Xerus (Euxerus) erythropus subsp. erythropus E. Geoffroy 1803

Subspecies Xerus (Euxerus) erythropus subsp. chadensis Thomas 1905

Subspecies Xerus (Euxerus) erythropus subsp. lacustris Thomas 1905

Subspecies Xerus (Euxerus) erythropus subsp. leucoumbrinus Rüppell 1835

Subspecies Xerus (Euxerus) erythropus subsp. limitaneus Thomas and Hinton 1923

Subspecies Xerus (Euxerus) erythropus subsp. microdon Thomas 1905

Distribution: SE Morocco, S Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, S Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, SE Niger, NE Nigeria, Cameroon, NE Republic of Congo, SE Chad, NE Central African Republic, Sudan, Dem. Rep. Congo, NW Uganda, Rwanda, W Ethiopia, W Kenya, N Tanzania.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Placed in Euxerus which is considered a subgenus of Xerus by Ellerman (1940), Moore (1959), and Amtmann (1975). The spelling erythopus was used by E. Geoffroy, 1803; Shinz, 1845, used the spelling erythropus . Opinion 945 of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1971 b) ruled that erythopus Geoffroy, 1803 be changed to erythropus as an incorrect original spelling; the proper latin root is "erythro", and in the last 100 years nearly all authors have used the spelling erythropus . In the interest of orthographic stability we advocate that the specific name be spelled erythropus . It is not desirable to perpetuate the lapsus in spelling by early workers.