Gerbillurus Shortridge 1942

Gerbillurus Shortridge 1942, Ann. S. Afr. Mus ., 36 (1): 52.

Type Species: Gerbillus vallinus Thomas 1918

Species and subspecies: 4 species in 3 subgenera:

Subgenus Gerbillurus (Gerbillurus) Shortridge 1942

Subgenus Gerbillurus (Paratatera) Petter 1983

Subgenus Gerbillurus (Progerbillurus) Pavlinov 1982

Species Gerbillurus (Progerbillurus) paeba (A. Smith 1836)

Species Gerbillurus (Gerbillurus) setzeri Schlitter 1973

Species Gerbillurus (Paratatera) tytonis Bauer and Niethammer 1959

Species Gerbillurus (Gerbillurus) vallinus (Thomas 1918)

Discussion: Tribe Taterillini, Subtribe Gerbillurina . Sometimes included in Gerbillus (see references in Schlitter et al., 1984), but concordance of morphological, allozymic, and chromosomal data supports the monophyly of Gerbillurus and indicates its close relationship to the robusta group of Taterillus (Qumsiyeh et al., 1987, and references therein). Pavlinov (1987), Pavlinov et al. (1990), and Pavlinov (2001), however, considered Gerbillurus to be a sister-species of Desmodillus and to form a monophyletic tribe. Comparisons in thermal parameters, macro-and micro-environments, and interspecific aggression among four sympatric species of Gerbillurus were documented by Downs and Perrin (1989, 1990) and Dempster and Perrin (1990) in context of adaptive significance and phylogenetic relationships. Divergence in acoustic repertoire, ultrasonic vocalizations and associated behavior, and general behavior patterns among four species of Gerbillurus, one Gerbilliscus, and Desmodillus in different combinations provided by Dempster and Perrin (1991, 1994) and Dempster et al. (1991, 1992, 1993). Standard karyotypic data reported by Schlitter et al. (1984), a hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships among the four species, derived from chromosomal data, was advanced by Qumsiyeh et al. (1991), and chromosomal comparisons among southern African species of Gerbillurus, Gerbilliscus, and Desmodillus was documented by Qumsiyeh (1986). Reviewed by Davis (1975 a). Gerbillurus is represented by samples from the late Pliocene of Namibia (Senut et al., 1992) and South Africa, and Holocene of East Africa (Denys, 1999).