Dipodillus (Petteromys) bottai Lataste 1882

Dipodillus (Petteromys) bottai Lataste 1882, Le Naturaliste (Paris), 4: 36.

Type Locality: Sudan, Sennar.

Vernacular Names: Botta's Dipodil.

Distribution: Recorded only from Sudan and Kenya.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as Gerbillus bottai .

Discussion: Subgenus Petteromys . F. Petter (1975 b) listed harwoodi and bottai as species and considered luteolus as a synonym of D. campestris . Kock (1978) included luteolus and harwoodi in D. bottai . Lay (1983:339) claimed the holotype of harwoodi lacks an accessory tympanum but holotype of luteolus has an accessory tympanum, and cannot represent the same species. Lay had not examined the holotype of bottai and rendered the conclusion that "because of the middle ear characters one of the two forms listed by Kock (1978) cannot be synonymous, perhaps neither are." He preferred to regard D. bottai "as valid and monotypic pending revision," and listed harwoodi as a species and luteolus as a synonym of D. stigmonyx . Pavlinov et al. (1990) reviewed the species and discussed harwoodi, luteolus, and stigmonyx under D. bottai .