Cricetomys ansorgei Thomas 1904

Cricetomys ansorgei Thomas 1904, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 13: 412.

Type Locality: Angola, Pungo Andongo.

Vernacular Names: Southern Giant Pouched Rat.

Synonyms: Cricetomys adventor Thomas and Wroughton 1907; Cricetomys cosensi Hinton 1919; Cricetomys cunctator Thomas and Wroughton 1908; Cricetomys elgonis Thomas 1910; Cricetomys enguvi Heller 1912; Cricetomys haagneri Roberts 1926; Cricetomys kenyensis Osgood 1910; Cricetomys luteus Dollman 1911; Cricetomys microtis Lönnberg 1917; Cricetomys osgoodi Heller 1912; Cricetomys raineyi Heller 1912; Cricetomys selindensis Roberts 1946; Cricetomys vaughanjonesi St. Leger 1937; Cricetomys viator Thomas 1904 .

Distribution: Kenya and E and S Uganda, southwards exclusive of Congo forest block, to W and S Angola (Crawford-Cabral, 1998:Map 21), S Zambia, E Zimbabwe, and NE South Africa (Limpopo Province and NE KwaZulu-Natal); including Zanzibar.

Discussion: Cranial proportions simililar to C. gambianus but size larger and skull robustly constructed (LM1-3 typically 11-12 mm versus 10-11 mm), dominant tones of dorsal pelage brown compared with grayish of C. gambianus; as equally differentiated in multivariate space from C. gambianus as from C. emini . Other morphological and ecological contrasts to C. gambianus enumerated (as C. g. ansorgei) by Genest-Villard (1967). Even as arranged, ansorgei is likely a species complex. Populations that occur on mountains in East Africa ( elgonis, enguvi, kenyensis, microtis), each retained as well differentiated but localized subspecies of C. gambianus by Genest-Villard (1967), invite detailed investigation; certain populations may plausibly link with C. kivuensis from Western Rift Mtns. Also, cosensi, described as a species from Zanzibar, was considered by Hinton (1919 b) to be related to the emini complex.