Dasymys foxi Thomas 1912

Dasymys foxi Thomas 1912, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 9: 685.

Type Locality: Nigeria, Panyam, 4000 ft (1220 m); 09°27N, 09°52’E (W. Verheyen et al., 2003).

Vernacular Names: Fox's Dasymys.

Distribution: Endemic to the Jos Plateau in Nigeria.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Member of the D. incomtus species complex (W. Verheyen et al., 2003). Originally described as a species, but subsequently treated as a subspecies of D. incomtus (Ellerman, 1941; Happold, 1987; Misonne, 1974; Rosevear, 1969) until the review by Carleton and Martinez (1991), who contrasted foxi ’s distinctive morphological and distributional traits (larger body size is one of these) with the smaller-bodied D. rufulus (see account), the other and more common species in West Africa. Multivariate analyses of craniometric data by W. Verheyen et al. (2003:48) clustered a sample from Pulima, NW Ghana, with that from Panyam on the Jos Plateau, and W. Verheyen et al. speculated that the species of Dasymys living "... in the Guinean and Sudanese savannahs [of West Africa] should probably all be referred to the foxi taxon...." This conclusion conflicts with results of the multivariate analyses of cranial and dentail measurements reported by Carleton and Marinez (1991) that showed a clear separation of samples collected in Liberia (including type series of rufulus), Ivory Coast, Ghana (including a large sample from Pulima), Togo, and Nigeria (west of the Jos Plateau) from a large sample near Panyam on the Jos Plateau. Those analyses, along with their qualitative inspection of specimens, identified the smaller-bodied D. rufulus as occurring from Sierra Leone east to W Nigeria, and and larger-bodied D. foxi as restricted to the Jos Plateau.