Chiropodomys Peters 1869

Chiropodomys Peters 1869, Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin: 448.

Type Species: Mus gliroides Blyth 1856

Synonyms: Insulaemus Taylor 1934 .

Species and subspecies: 6 species:

Species Chiropodomys calamianensis Taylor 1934

Species Chiropodomys gliroides (Blyth 1856)

Species Chiropodomys karlkoopmani Musser 1979

Species Chiropodomys major Thomas 1893

Species Chiropodomys muroides Medway 1965

Species Chiropodomys pusillus Thomas 1893

Discussion: Micromys Division. Revised by Musser (1979). Among Asian murines, phylogenetic position of Chiropodomys is ambiguous. Musser and Newcomb (1983) postulated a phylogenetic link between Chiropodomys and Hapalomys, which was also indicated by Misonne (1969) and Chaimanee (1998) based upon molar occlusal patterns, and a weaker tie to Haeromys . Ellerman (1949 a;132) saw a "close relationship" between Chiropodomys and Vandeleuria . Spermatozoal morphology of Chiropodomys resembles that described for species of Hapalomys, Maxomys, and Haeromys, and is also similar to Mus (Breed and Musser, 1991; Breed and Yong, 1986). Musser (1979) and Musser and Newcomb (1983) recorded other published opinions about relationships of Chiropodomys . No data supports the inclusion of Chiropodomys within the Phloeomyinae along with Coryphomys, Lenomys, Pogonomys, Chiruromys, Mallomys, Phloeomys, and Crateromys, which is where Tate (1936) and Simpson (1945) listed it (Ellerman, 1949 a:132; our studies).

Evolutionary history of Chiropodomys has been confined to the Indomalayan region (as defined by Corbet and Hill, 1992). The genus extends back to late Pliocene in S China where C. primitivus has been described from isolated molars recovered from cave sediments in the Sichuan-Guizhou region (Zheng, 1993), and C. gliroides is represented by molars from middle or late Pleistocene cave layers in Guangxi Province of S China (Chen et al., 2002). In Thailand, the extant C. gliroides is recorded back to late Pliocene, and the extinct C. maximus is represented by isolated molars from middle Pleistocene deposits (Chaimanee, 1998). On the Sunda Shelf, C. gliroides has been identified from isolated molars recovered from early Pleistocene beds on Java (Van der Meulen and Musser, 1999).