Thallomys loringi (Heller 1909)

[Thallomys] loringi (Heller 1909), Smithson. Misc. Coll., 52: 471.

Type Locality: E Kenya, Lake Naivasha.

Vernacular Names: Loring's Thallomys.

Distribution: Known only by specimens from E Kenya, and N and E Tanzania; limits unknown.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Originally described as a species of Thamnomys (Heller, 1909), then listed as a subspecies of Thallomys nigricauda (G. M. Allen, 1939; Ellerman, 1941), and finally allocated to T. damarensis (here included in nigricauda) as a subspecies (F. Petter, 1973 a). Thallomys loringi is morphologically and probably phylogenetically allied to T. nigricauda, but no critical documentation of its conspecificity with that species has ever been presented. Because T. loringi can be diagnosed by pelage and other distinctions, we list it as a species, a hypothesis that can be tested by careful systematic revision of samples from regions outside of southern Africa. Morphometric analyses presented by Taylor et al. (1995) identified a skull from Kenya as possibly being T. nigricauda, which highlights the need to determine the relationship between that species and T. loringi .