Caryomys inez (Thomas 1908)

[Microtus (Eothenomys)] inez Thomas 1908, Abstr. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1908 (63): 45.

Type Locality: China, Shanxi (Shansi), mtns 12 mi (19 km) NW Kolanchow, 7000 ft (2134 m).

Vernacular Names: Inez's Red-backed Vole.

Synonyms: Caryomys nux (Thomas 1910) .

Distribution: N Sichuan and SE Shaanxi through Shanxi provinces, China, possibly farther east.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as Eothenomys inez .

Discussion: Following Hinton (1926 a), inez was synonymized with Clethrionomys rufocanus (Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951; Gromov and Polyakov, 1977), but its distinctive status is well documented, typically within Eothenomys (G. M. Allen, 1940; Corbet, 1978 c; Corbet and Hill, 1992; Kaneko, 1992 c). Hinton (1926 a) and Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951) allocated nux to Clethrionomys rufocanus shanseius, but G. M. Allen (1940) treated it as a subspecies of Eothenomys inez . Kaneko’s (1991) morphometric analysis identified the holotype of nux as an example of inez, as concluded earlier by A. B. Howell (1929). Kaneko restricted the range to Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, but Zhang et al. (1997) mapped a far broader distribution.