Dendromus melanotis Smith 1834

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 : 938

Dendromus melanotis Smith 1834

Dendromus melanotis Smith 1834 , South African Quart. J., 2: 158.

Type Locality: South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Prov., near Port Natal (Durban).

Vernacular Names: Gray African Climbing Mouse.

Synonyms: Dendromus arenarius Roberts 1924 ; Dendromus basuticus Roberts 1927 ; Dendromus capensis Roberts 1931 ; Dendromus chiversi Roberts 1929 ; Dendromus concinnus Thomas 1926 ; Dendromus exoneratus Thomas 1918 ; Dendromus insignis ( Shortridge and Carter 1938) ; Dendromus nigrifrons (True 1892) ; Dendromus pallidus (Heuglin 1877) ; Dendromus pecilei (Milne-Edwards 1886) ; Dendromus pretoriae Roberts 1931 ; Dendromus shortridgei St. Leger 1930 ; Dendromus spectabilis Heller 1911 ; Dendromus subtilis ( Sundevall 1846) ; Dendromus thorntoni Roberts 1931 ; Dendromus vulturnus Thomas 1916 .

Distribution: From South Africa (de Graaff, 1997 dd; Skinner and Smithers, 1990:306; Taylor, 1998) northward in the west through Botswana ( Smithers, 1971) to C Angola ( Crawford-Cabral, 1998; AMNH specimens from Chitau); northward in the east through Zimbabwe ( Smithers and Wilson, 1979), Mozambique ( Smithers and Lobao Tello, 1976), Zambia ( Ansell, 1978), Malawi ( Ansell and Dowsett, 1988; Ansell, 1989), and Tanzania (Mt Kilimanjaro; Grimshaw et al., 1995; Swynnerton and Hayman, 1951) to Uganda ( Delany, 1975); westward through Nigeria and Ghana ( Grubb et al., 1998) to S Guinea ( Rosevear, 1969); also from Ethiopia ( AMNH 81119 and four other specimens as reported by Duckworth et al., 1993, and Yalden et al., 1976). Range limits unresolved.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Apparently most closely related to D. nyikae (see that account). A very widespread species and one requiring taxonomic revision, especially West African populations. Specimens from Mt Nimba, on the Guinea-Côte d’Ivoire border ( Heim de Balsac and Lamotte, 1958; Rosevear, 1969), have ochraceous-red upperparts with indistinct stripe and white underparts, chromatic traits that fall outside the fur color and dorsal pattern of southern African D. melanotis (dorsum gray with prominent dark stripe, venter grayish), and may represent a separate species (either undescribed or a population of D. messorius ). Crawford-Cabral (1998) questioned the inclusion of concinnus , but Thomas’ (1926 e) description fits within morphological variation currently accepted as D. melanotis (see Roberts, 1951:449).