Lophuromys (Lophuromys) dieterleni W. Verheyen, Hulselmans, Colyn, and Hutterer 1997

Lophuromys (Lophuromys) dieterleni W. Verheyen, Hulselmans, Colyn, and Hutterer 1997, Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat. Belg., Biol., 67: 173.

Type Locality: West Cameroon, Bamenda-Banso highlands, border of the crater lake on Mt Oku, 2100 m (see W. Verheyen et al., for additional information).

Vernacular Names: Mount Oku Brush-furred Rat.

Distribution: Recorded by five specimens collected in 1967 from the type locality, an isolated patch of forest on Mt. Oku (W. Verheyen et al., 1997).

Discussion: Subgenus Lophuromys, L. aquilus species group (W. Verheyen et al., 2002). Apparently phylogenetically most closely allied with L. eisentrauti from nearby Mt Lefo (W. Verheyen et al., 1997). Holotypes of L. eisentrauti, L. dieterleni, Mt Elgon L. rubecula, and montane Kenyan L. zena cluster with samples of L. chrysopus, suggesting all represent the same species, a possibility requiring testing by analyses of morphometric, chromosomal, and molecular variation in geographic samples from the region between Ethiopia and the Cameroon and Kenyan highlands. Morphometric and morphological comparisons between L. dieterleni and samples of L. eisentrauti, L. sikapusi, L. flavopunctatus, and L. ansorgei documented by W. Verheyen et al. (1997). An example of L. sikapusi has been collected at the base of Mt Oku and that species may prove to be sympatric with L. dieterleni (W. Verheyen et al., 1997) . Lophuromys dieterleni, three murine rodents ( Lamottemys okuensis, Lemniscomys mittendorfi, and Hylomyscus grandis), and a golden mole ( Chrysochloris balsaci) are endemic to Mt Oku (W. Verheyen et al., 1997).