Acomys (Subacomys) subspinosus (Waterhouse 1837)

[Acomys (Subacomys)] subspinosus (Waterhouse 1837), Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1837: 104.

Type Locality: South Africa, Western Cape Province, Cape of Good Hope.

Vernacular Names: Cape Spiny Mouse.

Distribution: South Africa; restricted to Western Cape Province (Bates, 1994; Dippenaar and Rautenbach, 1986; Skinner and Smithers, 1990).

Conservation: IUCN – Least Concern.

Discussion: Subgenus Subacomys . Revised by Dippenaar and Rautenbach (1986). Musser and Carleton (1993) noted that A. subspinosus should be in a species-group by itself, according to the results of genetic analysis by Janecek et al. (1991). Its separation from other Acomys is also indicated by phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA cytochrome b sequences (Barome et al., 2000, 2001 b). Their study of cranial and dental morphology prompted Denys et al. (1994) to propose the subgenus Subacomys for A. subspinosus . Reviewed by de Graaff (1997 c).