Subfamily Cricetomyinae Roberts, 1951 . Mammals S Africa, p. 434.

SYNONYMS: Saccostomurinae.

COMMENTS: Although initially classified within Murinae (e.g., Ellerman, 1941; Simpson, 1945; Thomas, 1897a), systematists acknowledged a closer affinity of African pouched rats to one another than to other murines, a distinction later formalized by Roberts (1951). Subsequent systematic arrangements have followed Petter (1966a) in allying cricetomyines with cricetids (Reig, 1980; Rosevear, 1969). Anatomy of internal cheek pouches supports the monophyly of the subfamily (see Ryan, 1989b); other morphological traits and phylogenetic interpretations summarized by Carleton and Musser (1984). Roberts (1951) segregated Saccostomus, as the lone member of Saccostomurinae, from other African pouched rats ( Cricetomyinae), a division not recognized by later systematists (Petter, 1966a; Ryan, 1989b).