Tachyoryctes splendens (Rüppell, 1835) . Neue wirbelt. Fauna Abyssin. Gehörig., Säugeth., 1:36.

TYPE LOCALITY: Ethiopia, Dembea Prov, Gondar .

DISTRIBUTION: Ethiopia (500-3900 m; Rupp, 1980), Somalia, and NW Kenya; limits unknown.

SYNONYMS: canicaudus, cheesmani, gallarum, ibeanus, omensis, pontifex, somalicus .

COMMENTS: Yalden et al. (1976) claimed that the synonyms (except for ibeanus) listed here clearly apply to one species. Osgood (1936), however, noted that two species, splendens and cheesmani, could be distinguished among the Ethiopian samples he examined. We include ibeanus because it is geographically close to the range of T. splendens and was originally described as a subspecies of that species (see Allen, 1939). Hollister (1919) identified series from SE Kenya as T. ibeanus .