Oenomys ornatus Thomas 1911

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1429

Oenomys ornatus Thomas 1911

Oenomys ornatus Thomas 1911 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 7: 378.

Type Locality: Ghana, Bibianaha, near Dunkwa.

Vernacular Names: West African Oenomys.

Distribution: Records are from SE Guinea (Mt Nimba; Tranier and Gautun, 1979), E Sierra Leone, and S Ghana ( Grubb et al., 1998); probably also occurs in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia in suitable forest habitats.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Originally described by Thomas (1911 b) as a species, and subsequently either listed that way (G. M. Allen, 1939; Ellerman, 1941) or included in O. hypoxanthus ( Misonne, 1974) . Rosevear (1969), however, recognized ornatus as a distinctive subspecies of O. hypoxanthus , and Tranier and Gautun (1979) reinstated its specific uniqueness as indicated by chromosomal, morphological, and distributional attributes. Populations in Sierra Leone and Ghana reviewed by Grubb et al. (1998). Member of murine fauna endemic to West Africa (see account of Grammomys buntingi ).