Niviventer eha (Wroughton 1916)

[Niviventer] eha (Wroughton 1916), J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 24: 428.

Type Locality: India, Sikkim, Lachen, 8800 ft (2680 m).

Vernacular Names: Smoke-bellied Niviventer.

Synonyms: Niviventer ninus (Thomas 1922) .

Distribution: Recorded from C and E Nepal, India (West Bengal, Sikkim, and N Assam; Agrawal, 2000, and Ellerman, 1961), N Burma (Musser, 1970 b), and S China (S Xizang and W Yunnan; Wang, 2003) in montane forests.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Reviewed by Musser (1970 b) and Corbet and Hill (1992). Shared morphological traits and proportions support the hypothesis of close phylogenetic relationship between N. eha and N. brahma (Musser, 1981 b; Corbet and Hill, 1992), but this alliance should be tested by analyses of other morphological traits and gene sequences. Anthony reviewed the population from N Burma, and G. M. Allen (1940) discussed distribution and morphological traits of population in Yunnan. Zhang et al. (1997) mapped the species as occurring east of Yunnan in the provinces of Guizhou and Guangxi, but those records are so far out of the documented biogeographical range that they require verification. Biology, habitats, and aspects of morphological variation for samples from C and E Nepal reported by Abe (1971) and Gruber (1969).