Taterillus pygargus (F. Cuvier 1838)

[Taterillus] pygargus (F. Cuvier 1838), Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., 2: 142.

Type Locality: Senegal, probably St. Louis (as suggested by Robbins, 1977:191).

Vernacular Names: Senegal Tateril.

Distribution: Gambia, Senegal, S Mauritania, W and S Mali (Meinig, 2000), and S Niger (Dobigny et al., 2002 b).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Cuvier's pygargus was included in Gerbillus pyramidum, but the holotype is an example of Taterillus (see F. Petter et al., 1972, and F. Petter, 1975 b, and references therein). Apparently unaware of F. Petter's observation, Lay (1983) listed pygargus as a species of Gerbillus known only from the type locality, which he thought was Egypt. Karyotype (2n = 22/23, FNa = 38-40) described in detail and contrasted with two newly described cytotypes representing two species (2n = 22/23, FN = 40; 2n = 24/25, FN = 44; identified as Taterillus sp. 1 and Taterillus sp. 2) by Dobigny et al. (2002 a). Additional chromosomal information for Niger samples of T. pygargus provided by Dobigny et al. (2002 b).