Lophuromys (Lophuromys) ansorgei De Winton 1896

Lophuromys (Lophuromys) ansorgei De Winton 1896, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1896: 607.

Type Locality: Kenya, Nyanza Province, Mumia’s.

Vernacular Names: Ansorge's Brush-furred Rat.

Synonyms: Lophuromys (Lophuromys) manteufeli Matschie 1911; Lophuromys (Lophuromys) pyrrhus Heller 1911 .

Distribution: West Africa from lower reaches of the Congo River in E Dem. Rep. Congo (Boma, Kinshasa) and possibly S Cameroon, and in E Africa from Uganda through W Kenya to N Tanzania.

Discussion: Subgenus Lophuromys, L. sikapusi species complex (W. Verheyen et al., 2000). Usually included in L. sikapusi, but regarded as a separate species by W. Verheyen et al. (1997, 2000). The species has yet to be fully revised and its geographic range delineated; the distribution recorded here is extracted from W. Verheyen et al. (1997, 2000). Geographic range of L. ansorgei either extends from East Africa along the northern and southern rim of the Congolese Central Forest Block to the lower reaches of the Congo River, or the range along the lower Congo is a remnant of a once more expansive distribution (W. Verheyen et al., 2000). Dieterlen (1987) discussed ansorgei and pyrrhus as subspecies of L. sikapusi .