A faunal survey in Kingu Pira (south Tanzania), with new karyotypes of several small mammals and the description of a new Murid species (Mammalia, Rodentia) Author Denys, Christiane Author Lalis, Aude Départment Systématique et Évolution, UMR 7205 CNRS-OSEB, case postale 51, 57 rue Cuvier, F- 75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) denys @ mnhn. fr lalis @ mnhn. fr denys@mnhn.fr Author Lecompte, Émilie Université Paul Sabatier, UMR 5174 CNRS-Évolution et Diversité Biologique, F- 31062 Toulouse cedex 4 (France) lecompt @ cict. fr lecompt@cict.fr Author Cornette, Raphaël Author Moulin, Sibyle Départment Systématique et Évolution, UMR 7205 CNRS-OSEB, case postale 51, 57 rue Cuvier, F- 75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) cornette @ mnhn. fr moulin @ mnhn. fr cornette@mnhn.fr Author Makundi, Rhodes H. Author Machang, Robert S. Author Volobouev, Vitaly Départment Systématique et Évolution, UMR 7205 CNRS-OSEB, case postale 51, 57 rue Cuvier, F- 75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) vitaly @ mnhn. fr vitaly@mnhn.fr Author Aniskine, Vladimir M. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii pr 33, 117071, Moskow (Russia) anivlad @ gmail. com text Zoosystema 2011 2011-03-31 33 1 5 47 http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/z2011n1a1 journal article 10.5252/z2011n1a1 1638-9387 4546753 Genus Beamys Thomas, 1909 Among the pouched rats of the endemic African family, Beamys is the rarest and one of the two species of the genus is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. The holotype of B. hindei Thomas, 1909 comes from Taveta in Kenya while B. major 17 16 15 14 WZYG 13 12 11 10 242628303234 LGT 6.0 5.5 5.0 13 LS 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 242628303234 LGT FIG. 15. — Scatterplots of skull proportions for different Grammomys Thomas, 1915 : A , WZYG versus LGT (in millimetres); B , LS13 versus LGT. Abbreviations: see Material and methods. Symbol: T , holotype. Dollman, 1914 holotype is from Mulanje in Malawi . Dieterlen (1979) described an old skull collected in Moshi, Tanzania and attributed it to B. hindei claiming it is the earliest specimen of the genus Beamys described in 1909 by Thomas. Classical determination keys emphasize a difference in size and especially in hindfoot length to separate between the two species. New discoveries of B. hindei in coastal Kenya as well as in south Tanzania by Fitzgibbon et al . (1995) suggest that there is a clinal variation in size from north to south coastal populations. Animals from lower latitudes appeared to be larger than those from near the Equator but the sample was too small to be statistically significant.