Mus (Nannomys) bufo Thomas 1906

Mus (Nannomys) bufo Thomas 1906, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 18: 145.

Type Locality: Uganda, Ruwenzori East, 6000 ft (1830 m).

Vernacular Names: Toad Mouse.

Synonyms: Mus (Nannomys) ablutus G. M. Allen and Loveridge 1939; Mus (Nannomys) wambutti (Lönnberg and Gyldenstolpe 1925) .

Distribution: E Dem. Rep. Congo (Kivu region), adjacent Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi; a montane Western Rift endemic.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Nannomys . In body size and morphology, M. bufo superficially resembles the large-bodied M. triton, but they are distinguished by dental traits and tail length (F. Petter and Matthey, 1975) as well as karyotypes (Robbins and Baker, 1978), and occur together in the Kivu region of E Dem. Rep. Congo (specimens in AMNH). Electrophoretic analysis of 19 protein enzymes at 24 loci indicated M. bufo to be more closely related to M. gratus (= M. minutoides) than to M. triton (Van Rompaey et al., 1984) . Chromosomal data for Burundi samples reported by Maddalena et al. (1989). Altitudinal distribution on Ugandan slopes of Ruwenzori Mtns reviewed by Kerbis Peterhans et al. (1998); documented from Kalinzu Forest in SW Uganda by Lunde and Sarmiento (2002), and from Kibale Forest by Hoffmann (1997).