Otomys denti Thomas 1906

Otomys denti Thomas 1906, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 18: 142.

Type Locality: Uganda, east slope of Mount Ruwenzori, Mubuku Valley, 6000 ft (as restricted by Moreau et al., 1946:420).

Vernacular Names: Dent's Vlei Rat.

Synonyms: Otomys kempi Dollman 1915; Otomys sungae Bohmann 1943 .

Distribution: Intermittently found in EC Africa—Ruwenzori Mtns, SW Uganda and contiguous Dem. Rep. Congo; through the Virunga volcanoes, E Dem. Rep. Congo (Kivu), Rwanda, and Burundi; to the Nyika Plateau, N Malawi and NE Zambia, and the Usambara and Uluguru mountains, EC Tanzania.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: The form kempi was treated as a distinct species (e.g., Ellerman, 1941; Thomas, 1918 b), as originally described (Dollman, 1915), and later reduced to subspecific rank by Bohmann (1952), as observed currently (Ansell, 1978; Delany, 1975; Misonne, 1974; Musser and Carleton, 1993). Confirmation of its status and that of sungae, isolated in the Nyika Plateau and Eastern Arc Mtns, deserves critical evaluation.