Dephomys Thomas 1926

Dephomys Thomas 1926, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 9, 17: 177.

Type Species: Mus defua Miller 1900

Species and subspecies: 2 species:

Species Dephomys defua (Miller 1900)

Species Dephomys eburneae Heim de Balsac and Bellier 1967

Discussion: Hybomys Division. Another genus founded by Thomas and either relegated to Rattus as a subgenus or combined with Stochomys, which was then treated as a subgenus of either Rattus or Aethomys (D. H. S. Davis, 1965; Rosevear, 1969; Van der Straeten, 1984). The generic integrity of Dephomys was recognized by Misonne (1969) and Rosevear (1969), who also suggested it was not especially closely related to Stochomys, the conventional view at the time. Some molar traits and multivariate analysis of morphological variation suggest a close relationship to Hybomys, and particularly to subgenus Hybomys rather than subgenus Typomys (Misonne, 1969; Van der Straeten, 1984); other qualitative characters, however, support a distant affinity. Careful analyses of a suite of morphological features coupled with DNA sequences employing samples of Dephomys and other African forest murine genera is required to uncover the phylogenetic alliance of Dephomys relative to Hybomys and Stochomys .