Mus sorella (Thomas, 1909)

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 628

Mus sorella (Thomas, 1909) . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 4:548.

TYPE LOCALITY: W Kenya, Mt Elgon, Kirui, 6000 ft .

DISTRIBUTION: Documented by specimens from E Cameroon, EC Angola, NE and SE Zaire, Uganda, Kenya, and N Tanzania ( Petter, 1981 b; Verheyen, 1965a; specimens in the American Museum of Natural History, and the National Museum of Natural Hitory); limits unknown

SYNONYMS: acholi, wamae.

COMMENTS: Subgenus Nannomys . Closest relatives are M. baoulei , M. goundae , M. kasaicus , M. neavei , and M. oubanguii ; Petter (1981 b) placed these (except baoulei ) together in the M. sorella group. Petter (1981 b) also recognized wamae and acholi as species in the sorella complex, but after examining holotypes and other specimens we agree with Verheyen (1965a), who united them with M. sorella . There are at least two distinct species in the group, M. sorella and M. neavei (see later account), but the nature of their phylogenetic relationship to other forms in this complex needs to be assessed by critical systematic review. Reidentification of museum specimens might also help resolve geographic ranges. The specimens from Angola, for example, were originally identified by Hill and Carter (1941) as M. bella .