Aethomys namaquensis (A. Smith, 1834) . S. Afr. Quart. J., 2:160.

TYPE LOCALITY: South Africa, Cape Prov., Namaqualand, Cape of Good Hope .

DISTRIBUTION: S Angola, South Africa (except parts of Cape Prov., coastal Natal, and Namib Desert), Botswana, Zimbabwe, S and C Mozambique, S Malawi, and SE Zambia (see map in Skinner and Smithers, 1990:278).

SYNONYMS: arborarius (Peters, 1852, not True, 1892), auricomis, avarillus, avunculus, calarius, capensis, centralis, drakensbergi, epupae, grahami, klaverensis, lechochloides, lehocla, longicaudatus, monticularis, namibensis, phippsi, siccatus, waterbergensis.

COMMENTS: Significance of the appreciable variation in body size and pelage coloration among geographic samples needs to be assessed by systematic revision to determine whether that variation reflects one or more species. Reviewed by Meester et al. (1986) and Skinner and Smithers (1990).