Myotomys unisulcatus (F. Cuvier 1829)

[Otomys] unisulcatus F. Cuvier 1829, in: E. Geoffroy and F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. Mammiferes, pt. 3, 6 (60): 1-2 " Otomys cafre. ".

Type Locality: South Africa, Western Cape Province, southwestern Karroo, Matjiesfontein, southwest of Laingsburg (as designated by Roberts, 1946:318).

Vernacular Names: Bush Karroo Rat.

Synonyms: Myotomys albaniensis Roberts 1946; Myotomys bergensis Roberts 1929; Myotomys broomi (Thomas 1902); Myotomys grantii (Thomas 1902) .

Distribution: Little Namaqualand in W Northern Cape Province, through the Great and Little Karroo, to Eastern Cape Province, South Africa (De Graaff, 1981:155).

Conservation: IUCN – Least Concern as Otomys unisulcatus .

Discussion: A species having a relictual distribution and exhibiting many traits interpreted as plesiomorphic for the subfamily (e.g., Bohmann, 1952). Genetic distance data (Taylor et al., 1989) suggest the inclusion of unisulcatus with species of Parotomys, but sperm morphology (Bernard et al., 1991) indicates its singular differentiation from both the Parotomys and O. irroratus groups. All named forms listed, with reservation, as subspecies by Meester et al. (1986), but allozymic variation unappreciable over species range and erodes validity of these divisions (Van Dyk et al., 1991).