Acomys (Acomys) mullah Thomas 1904

Acomys (Acomys) mullah Thomas 1904, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 14: 103.

Type Locality: Ethiopia.

Vernacular Names: Mullah Spiny Mouse.

Synonyms: Acomys (Acomys) brockmani Dollman 1911 .

Distribution: Ethiopia and Somalia; see Bates (1994); limits unknown.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Acomys . F. Petter (1983) recognized brockmani as a valid species, suggesting it might be referable to mullah, which is the older name. These two forms are characterized by large molar rows, also diagnostic of lowei, which F. Petter implicitly associated with both mullah and brockmani as separate species, as did Denys et al. (1994). Ellerman (1941) also recognized mullah and brockmani as species, but Setzer (1975) arranged lowei as a subspecies of A. cahirinus, Dieterlen (in litt.) regarded it as a synonym of A. cinerasceus, and Setzer (1975) treated mullah and brockmani as subspecies of A. dimidiatus . Yalden et al. (1976) listed mullah as a synonym of A. cahirinus . Musser and Carleton (1993) followed Dieterlen in associating lowei with A. cinerasceus, an identity we retain pending a systematic revision of that species (see account).