Grammomys macmillani (Wroughton 1907)

[Grammomys] macmillani (Wroughton 1907), Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 20: 504.

Type Locality: Ethiopia, north of Lake Rudolf, Wouida.

Vernacular Names: Macmillan's Grammomys.

Synonyms: Grammomys erythropygus Setzer 1956; Grammomys gazellae (Thomas 1910); Grammomys oblitus (Osgood 1910); Grammomys ochraceus (G. M. Allen 1912); Grammomys usambarae (Matschie 1915); Grammomys vumbaensis Roberts 1938; Grammomys vumbensis G. M. Allen 1939 .

Distribution: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Central African Republic, S Sudan, S Ethiopia, N Dem. Rep. Congo, Kenya, Uganda (including Bugala Isl in Lake Victoria), Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and E Zimbabwe; limits unresolved.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Hutterer and Dieterlen (1984) provided historical association of the name with other taxa, and summary of range as they knew it. Chromosomal variation (under name of gazellae) described by Civitelli et al. (1989). Spermatozoal morphology documented by Breed (1995 a, as gazellae). The records from Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique are based on samples in AMNH, MCZ, and USNM and represent significant range extensions beyond that outlined by Hutterer and Dieterlen (1984). Judged by Roberts's (1938) description and our study of one of the specimens in his original series (MCZ 24046), vumbaensis from E Zimbabwe (Vumba and Mount Selinda) belongs in the synonymy of G. macmillani rather than G. dolichurus where Smithers and Wilson (1979) and Meester et al. (1986) listed it. Matschie's (1915) usambarae from N Tanzania is also likely an example of G. macmillani because of its small size and short molar rows. Distribution in the Eastern Arc Mtns of Tanzania documented by Stanley et al. (1998), and in SW Uganda by Lunde and Sarmiento (2002).