Aethomys silindensis Roberts 1938

Aethomys silindensis Roberts 1938, Ann. Transvaal Mus ., 19: 245.

Type Locality: E Zimbabwe, Mt Seilinda, Chirinda Forest (see Chimimba, 1998:433, for additional data).

Vernacular Names: Seilinda Aethomys.

Distribution: E Zimbabwe (Chimimba et al., 1999:508; Skinner and Smithers, 1990:277).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: For more than 30 years known only by two specimens from the type locality, but material has now been obtained from the nearby Ngorima Reserve in Melsetter Dist. and Stapleford in Umtali Dist., and the species may also extend north along the escarpment in E Zimbabwe and the adjacent W Vila Pery Dist. in Mozambique (Chimimba, 1998; Skinner and Smithers, 1990). Particular derived external, cranial, and dental traits phylogenetically tie A. silindensis to the Angolan A. bocagei . Aethomys silindensis is morphologically very distinctive compared with other species in the genus occurring in the Southern African Subregion (Chimimba et al., 1999). Reviewed by de Graaff (1997 u).