Thallomys loringi (Heller, 1909) . Smithson. Mise. Coll., 52:471.

TYPE LOCALITY: E Kenya, Lake Naivasha .

DISTRIBUTION: Known only by specimens from E Kenya, and N and E Tanzania; limits unknown.

COMMENTS: Originally described as a species of Thamnomys (Heller, 1909), then listed as a subspecies of Thallomys nigricauda (Allen, 1939; Ellerman, 1941), and finally allocated to T. damarensis (here included in nigricauda) as a subspecies (Petter, 1973a). T. loringi is morphologically and probably phylogenetically allied to T. nigricauda, but no critical documentation of its conspecificity with that species has ever been presented. Because T. loringi can be diagnosed by pelage and other distinctions, we list it as a species, a hypothesis that can be tested by careful systematic revision of the genus.