Hylomyscus stella (Thomas 1911)

[Hylomyscus] stella (Thomas 1911), Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 7: 590.

Type Locality: E Dem. Rep. Congo, Ituri Forest, between Mawambi and Avakubi.

Vernacular Names: Stella Hylomyscus.

Synonyms: Hylomyscus kaimosae (Heller 1912) .

Distribution: From S and SE Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, S Sudan to Dem. Rep. Congo, N Angola, Uganda, and W Kenya to EC Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda; limits unknown.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: The records from Sudan and N Angola are documented by specimens in FMNH; those from Tanzania are in BMNH. A specimen from the Gotel Mtns in SE Nigeria may represent the most northern population in Cameroon and Nigeria (Hutterer et al., 1992 a). Some E African samples were reviewed by Bishop (1979). Using allozymic data, Iskandar et al. (1988) documented two species occurring together in NW Gabon. One is H. stella but they could not place a name on the other. Recognizable morphological variation exists among the samples of H. stella and this significance has to be assessed by critical systematic revision. The variation in 2n and FN among samples identified as H. stella was documented by Robbins et al. (1980) and Maddalena et al. (1989). Fadda et al. (2001 a) used kaimosae as a species without explanation. Included by Eisentraut (1973) in his discussion of faunal evolution in West Africa. Documented from the Kalinzu Forest of SW Uganda by Delany (1975) and Lunde and Sarmiento (2002). Ecological data (demographic and spatial parameters during 16 months) in Gabon summarized by Duplantier (1989).