Graphiurus (Graphiurus) ocularis (Smith 1829)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Gliridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 819-840 : 827

Graphiurus (Graphiurus) ocularis (Smith 1829)

[Graphiurus (Graphiurus)] ocularis (Smith 1829) , Zool. J., 4: 439.

Type Locality: South Africa, Western Cape Prov., near Plettenberg Bay .

Vernacular Names: Spectacled African Dormouse.

Synonyms: Graphiurus (Graphiurus) capensis (Cuvier 1829) ; Graphiurus (Graphiurus) elegans Ogilby 1838 ; Graphiurus (Graphiurus) typicus Smith 1834 .

Distribution: South Africa, Eastern, Northern and Western Cape Provinces ( Channing, 1984; de Graaff, 1991; Roberts, 1951; Smithers, 1983).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Graphiurus . Other historical distributional records for G. ocularis are questionable. Lorenz (1894) recorded a specimen from Linokana (Dinokana), northwest of Zeerust, North West Province, although no other specimen has ever been taken from this region (see Rautenbach, 1982). The Linokana specimen is missing from the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, where most of the Lorenz collection is housed (B. Herzig, pers.comm.), so unfortunately the historical occurrence of the Spectacled African Dormouse as far north as the Zeerust region cannot be verified; possibly the specimen represented either G. platyops or G. microtis and was misidentified as G. ocularis . An example of G. ocularis recorded from Damaraland, Namibia (type specimen of G. elegans ) may have come from Namaqualand, South Africa; the occurrence of G. ocularis north of the Orange River is doubtful (see Thomas, 1926 e for discussion). Though Roberts (1951) and Ellerman et al. (1953) included [Orange] Free State in the distribution of this species, Lynch (1983) stated that it has not been collected in the province. It is doubtful that G. ocularis occurs in KwaZulu-Natal, though its range may have historically included the province (Taylor 1998). See comments under G. monardi regarding a specimen reported from Dilolo, Dem. Rep. Congo, and discussion under G. angolensis covering a specimen reported from Parc National de l’Upemba, Dem. Rep. Congo. Comparative ecological data reported by Channing (1984, 1987, 1997) and Van Hensbergen and Channing (1989). Reviewed by Rossolimo et al. (2001) and Holden (In Press).