Common Grammomys

biology_ecology

Karyotype: The karyotype of specimens from the Eastern Cape province and from Port St. Johns is 2 n = 52, FN = 62, FNa = 58 (Kryštufek etal. 2008; notethatallspecimensreportedas G. cometes in their karyotypic and CYTB phylogenetic analyses in fact represent G. dolichurus; see Bryja et al. 2017). Dippenaar et al. (1983) reported two different karyotypes from South Africa, 2 n = 52 and 2 n = 44, but the latter is most likely to be G. cometes (see above).

Integrative taxonomic revision of the African thicket rats (Murinae: Grammomys): how genomics decreases the number of currently recognized species

discussion

Comments: One syntype skull of dolichurus from the Cape region is very damaged and could not be included in our morphometric analyses; the other syntype is very young, hence it was also not included. The species name has been attributed to many other taxa, and a number of scientific names were synonymized with it (Musser and Carleton 2005). We restrict it to the South African genetic clade, which seems to be different morphologically (Fig. 4; Supporting Information, File S 3), as also suggested by previous studies. For example, Musser and Carleton (2005) mention that ‘ specimens of true dolichurus from South Africa have duller pelage and more inflated bullae than animals from East and West Africa; should these prove to be diagnostic specific differences, the northern populations should be identified as G. surdaster ’. Our genomic analysis supports this view unequivocally. Here, as first proposed by Roberts (1951), we keep only two synonyms of G. dolichurus: baliolus and tongensis. They were both assigned to the dolichurus group with PP =. 2 only, with a higher probability of belonging to the surdaster group (Table 1), but the two groups are overlapping morphologically (Fig. 4), and

Integrative taxonomic revision of the African thicket rats (Murinae: Grammomys): how genomics decreases the number of currently recognized species

distribution

Distribution: Eastern part of South Africa, from Limpopo Province along coast through KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces to Port Elizabeth (Fig. 5; de Graaff 1981, 1997, Taylor 1998) and Eswatini (A. Monadjem, pers. comm.); the presence in southern Mozambique and, possibly, Zimbabwe should be confirmed. All previous records reported under this name in other parts of Africa belong to other species, mainly to G. surdaster.

Integrative taxonomic revision of the African thicket rats (Murinae: Grammomys): how genomics decreases the number of currently recognized species

discussion

Discussion: Number of scientific names reflects morphological and chromosomal variation correlated with geography and suggests more than one species is represented (Hutterer and Dieterlen, 1984; Meester et al., 1986); the complex requires careful revision. For example, specimens of true dolichurus from South Africa have duller pelage and more inflated bullae than animals from East and West Africa; should these prove to be diagnostic specific differences, the northern populations should be identified as G. surdaster. The Ethiopian records are based upon a specimen from Kefa (in USNM) and one documented by Duckworth et al. (1993), but not those recorded by Yalden et al. (1976), which represent other species (Hutterer and Dieterlen, 1984).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae