Micaelamys namaquensis (A. Smith 1834)

[Micaelamys] namaquensis (A. Smith 1834), South African Quart. J., 2: 160.

Type Locality: South Africa, S Western Cape Province, Little Namaqualand, Cape of Good Hope (restricted to Witwater by Shortridge, 1942).

Vernacular Names: Namaqua Micaelamys.

Synonyms: Micaelamys arborarius Peters 1852; Micaelamys auricomis De Winton 1897; Micaelamys avarillus Thomas and Wroughton 1908; Micaelamys avunculus (Thomas 1904); Micaelamys calarius Thomas 1926; Micaelamys capensis Roberts 1926; Micaelamys centralis Schwann 1906; Micaelamys drakensbergi Roberts 1926; Micaelamys epupae Von Lehmann 1975; Micaelamys grahami Roberts 1915; Micaelamys klaverensis Roberts 1926; Micaelamys lechochloides Roberts 1926; Micaelamys lehocla A. Smith 1836; Micaelamys longicaudatus Von Lehmann 1955; Micaelamys monticularis Jameson 1909; Micaelamys namibensis Roberts 1946; Micaelamys phippsi Hill and Carter 1937; Micaelamys siccatus Thomas 1926; Micaelamys waterbergensis Roberts 1938 .

Distribution: E Angola (Crawford-Cabral, 1998), South Africa (except parts of Western, Northern, and Eastern Cape provinces, coastal KwaZulu-Natal Province, and Namib Desert; de Graaff, 1997 v; Taylor, 1998), Botswana, Zimbabwe, S and C Mozambique (absent from central and coastal regions), S Malawi, and SE Zambia. Range abstracted from Skinner and Smithers (1990:278) and Chimimba et al. (1999:507).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as Aethomys namaquensis .

Discussion: Originally described as a species of Gerbillus (Gerbillinae), subsequently treated as a species of Aethomys (G. M. Allen, 1939), Thallomys (Ellerman, 1941) or Rattus in subgenus Praomys (Ellerman et al., 1953) . There is appreciable variation in body size and pelage coloration among geographic samples, but past systematic studies do not recognize subspecies or significant clinal patterns of variation (Chimimba, 1998; Chimimba et al., 1999). A recent intraspecific morphometric analysis across a more comprehensive geographic region in southern Africa suggested recognition of four subspecies (Chimimba, 2001 a) in which distributional limits coincide with major phytogeographical zones. Integrity of these subspecific units, however, requires independent testing with molecular data. Non-geographic variation due to sex and age reported by Chimimba and Dippenaar (1994). Of all the species of either Micaelamys or even Aethomys, M. namaquensis has the most extensive geographic distribution and is sympatric with all the other species of Aethomys and Micaelamys occurring in the Southern African Subregion (Chimimba et al., 1999). Reviewed by Meester et al. (1986), Skinner and Smithers (1990), Chimimba (1998), Chimimba et al.(1999), and de Graaff (1997 v).