Oenomys hypoxanthus (Pucheran 1855)

[Mus] hypoxanthus Pucheran 1855, Rev. Mag. Zool. Paris, ser. 2, 7: 206.

Type Locality: Gabon.

Vernacular Names: Common Oenomys.

Synonyms: Oenomys albiventris Eisentraut 1968; Oenomys anchietae (Bocage 1890); Oenomys bacchante (Thomas 1903); Oenomys editus Thomas and Wroughton 1910; Oenomys marungensis (Noack 1887); Oenomys moerens Thomas 1911; Oenomys oris Thomas 1911; Oenomys rufinus (Matschie 1895); Oenomys talangae Setzer 1956; Oenomys unyori (Thomas 1903); Oenomys vallicola Heller 1914 .

Distribution: Tropical forest block from S Nigeria south to W and NE Angola (Crawford-Cabral, 1998), and east across Dem. Rep. Congo (incl. islands of Zaire River between Kisangani and Kinshasa; Colyn and Dudu, 1986) to Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda; also isolated forest patches in S Sudan, SW Ethiopia (Yalden et al., 1996), Kenya and W Tanzania (see section of map east of Ghana in Dieterlen and Rupp, 1976).

Conservation: IUCN – Data Deficient.

Discussion: Another African species showing appreciable geographic variation in fur color and body size (Dieterlen and Rupp, 1976; Rosevear, 1969; Thomas, 1915). Chromosomal data reported by Matthey (1963, 1967 a) and Maddalena et al. (1989). Palatal ridges of sample from Mount Oku described and contrasted with Lamottemys okuensis (Fülling, 1992). Altitudinal distribution on Ugandan slopes of Ruwenzori Mtns reviewed by Kerbis Peterhans et al. (1998).