Rhabdomys dilectus (De Winton 1897)

[Rhabdomys] dilectus (De Winton 1897), Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1896: 803.

Type Locality: NE Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Mazowe.

Vernacular Names: Mesic Four-striped Grass Rat.

Synonyms: Rhabdomys algoae Roberts 1946; Rhabdomys angolae (Wroughton 1905); Rhabdomys bethuliensis Roberts 1946; Rhabdomys chakae (Wroughton 1905); Rhabdomys cradockensis Roberts 1946; Rhabdomys diminutus (Thomas 1893); Rhabdomys griquoides Roberts 1946; Rhabdomys moshesh (Wroughton 1905); Rhabdomys nyasae (Wroughton 1905); Rhabdomys vaalensis Roberts 1946 .

Distribution: E South Africa (Rambau et al., 2003), E Zimbabwe (Smithers and Wilson, 1979), WC Mozambique (Smithers and Lobao Tello, 1976), Malawi (Nyika Plateau and Mulanje Massif; Ansell and Dowsett, 1988), NE Zambia (Nyika Plateau; Ansell, 1978), SE Dem. Rep. Congo (Kasaki, Marungu Mtns, 2300 m; Hatt, 1940 b), highlands in Tanzania (Grimshaw et al., 1995; Shore and Garbett, 1991; Swynnerton and Hayman, 1951; Vesey-Fitzgerald, 1966), Kenya (Hollister, 1919), E Uganda (Mt. Elgon; Clausnitzer, 2001; Clausnitzer and Kityo, 2001; Delany, 1975), and S and C Angola (Crawford-Cabral, 1998; Hill and Carter, 1941); all referred to as P. pumilio except Rambau et al. (2003).

Conservation: algoae Roberts, 1946; angolae (Wroughton, 1905); bethuliensis Roberts, 1946; chakae (Wroughton, 1905); cradockensis Roberts, 1946; diminutus (Thomas, 1893); griquoides Roberts, 1946; moshesh (Wroughton, 1905); nyasae (Wroughton, 1905); vaalensis Roberts, 1946 .

Discussion: Definition of R. dilectus generally follows Rambau et al. (2003), who sampled populations in South Africa, W Zimbabwe, Nyika Plateau in Malawi, and Mt. Elgon in Uganda. The species occurs in mesic grasslands and savannas in southern Africa (probably the more mesic of the six biotic zones of southern Africa in which Rhabdomys occurs; Yom-Tov, 1993) but north of that region (in SE Demo Rep. Congo, NE Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) is restricted to disjunct montane savannas (e. g., Delany, 1975; Hollister, 1919; and other references cited above for regions north of South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique).

Two species occur in Angola. Rhabdomys pumilio occupies only the southwestern Namib desert of Angola (see account below); it is their sample from here that Carter and Hill (1941:102) identified as R. bechuanae . The other is represented by populations occurring over most of the Angolan Plateau. Rambau et al. (2003) did not sample Angola, but we assume these highland populations to represent R. dilectus . This afromontane distribution, an isolated population in Angola and isolated populations along highlands of East Africa, is concordant with the distributional pattern seen in Hylomyscus denniae (see account).