Acomys (Acomys) spinosissimus Peters 1852

Acomys (Acomys) spinosissimus Peters 1852, Reise nach Mossambique, Saugethiere: 160.

Type Locality: Mozambique, Tette and Buio.

Vernacular Names: Southern African Spiny Mouse.

Synonyms: Acomys (Acomys) selousi De Winton 1896; Acomys (Acomys) transvaalensis Roberts 1926 .

Distribution: NE Tanzania (Amani; series in USNM) and EC Tanzania (Kilosa and Morogoro regions; specimens in FMNH and MNHN), SE Dem. Rep. Congo, Zambia, Malawi (Chitaukali et al., 2001, on Nyika Plateau; Denys et al., 1999), Zimbabwe, E Botswana, C Mozambique, and N and NW South Africa; see Bates (1994).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Acomys . Revised by Dippenaar and Rautenbach (1986). Genetic data indicated that A. spinosissimus should be placed in a species-group separate from other Acomys (Janecek et al., 1991) . Barome et al. (2001 b) reported morphological and molecular analyses of A. spinosissimus from Tanzania and Malawi compared with samples from farther south in the range. Their results not only demonstrated the monophyly of all geographic samples (from Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and NE South Africa) of A. spinosissimus, but also the distinctiveness of this species compared with South African A. subspinosus and other northern species ( A. wilsoni, A. russatus, A. ignitus, A. airensis, A. cahirinus, and A. dimidiatus; see also Barome et al., 2000). Reviewed by de Graaf (1997 b).