Aonyx Lesson 1827

Aonyx Lesson 1827, Manuel de Mammalogie: 157.

Type Species: Aonyx delalandi Lesson 1827

Synonyms: Amblonyx Rafinesque 1832; Anahyster Murray 1861; Leptonyx Lesson 1842; Micraonyx J. A. Allen 1919; Paraonyx Hinton 1921 .

Species and subspecies: 2 species with 9 subspecies:

Species Aonyx capensis (Schinz 1821)

Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. capensis Schinz 1821

Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. congica Lönnberg 1910

Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. hindei Thomas 1905

Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. meneleki Thomas 1903

Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. microdon Pohle 1920

Subspecies Aonyx capensis subsp. philippsi Hinton 1921

Species Aonyx cinerea (Illiger 1815)

Subspecies Aonyx cinerea subsp. cinerea Illiger 1815

Subspecies Aonyx cinerea subsp. concolor Rafinesque 1832

Subspecies Aonyx cinerea subsp. nirnai Pocock 1940

Discussion: Aonyx is considered congeneric with Amblonyx (Coetzee, 1977 b; Davis, 1978; Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951; Koepfli and Wayne, 1998; Osgood, 1932). However see Harris (1968), Medway (1977), and van Zyll de Jong (1972, 1987) who considered them separate. There is little question that capensis and congica are sister species. Koepfli and Wayne (1998) and Bininda-Emonds et al. (1999) supported monophyly of Amblonyx + Aonyx .