Published December 31, 2005 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Malacothrix typica

Description

Malacothrix typica (A. Smith 1834)

[Dendromus] typicus A. Smith 1834, South African Quart. J., 2: 148.

Type Locality: South Africa, Eastern Cape Prov., Graaff Reinet Dist.

Vernacular Names: Large-eared African Desert Mouse.

Synonyms: Malacothrix damarensis Roberts 1932; Malacothrix egeria Thomas 1926; Malacothrix fryi Roberts 1917; Malacothrix harveyi Roberts 1951; Malacothrix kalaharicus Roberts 1932; Malacothrix molopensis Roberts 1933.

Distribution: Eastern portion of Southern African Subregion in semidesert regions (mean annual rainfall = 150-500 mm) where sandy plains, short grassy velds, and karroid shrubs on hard substrates predominate; ranges in C and E South Africa (Eastern, Western and Northern Cape Provs., Free State, Northwest Prov.), S Botswana (Smithers, 1971), most of Namibia, and extreme SW Angola (Crawford-Cabral, 1998).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Reviewed by Skinner and Smithers (1990) and de Graaff (1997 aa). The species is now absent from KwaZulu-Natal in E South Africa but was present until about 60,000 years ago (Avery, 1991). Closely related to the extinct M. makapani, early Pleistocene Swartkrans cave sediments in South Africa (Avery, 1998).

Notes

Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Nesomyidae, pp. 930-955 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 942, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316535

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
A. Smith
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Order
Rodentia
Family
Nesomyidae
Genus
Malacothrix
Species
typica
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Malacothrix typica (Smith, 1834) sec. Wilson & Reeder, 2005

References

  • Roberts, A. 1951. The mammals of South Africa. Trustees of " The mammals of South Africa " book fund, Johannesburg, 700 pp.
  • Smithers, R. H. N. 1971. The mammals of Botswana. Museum Memoir, National Museums of Rhodesia, Salisbury, 4: 1 - 340.
  • Crawford-Cabral, J. 1998. The Angolan rodents of the superfamily Muroidea: An account of their distribution. Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica Tropical, Estudos, Ensaios e Documentos, 161: 223 pp.
  • Skinner, J. D., and R. H. N. Smithers. 1990. The mammals of the southern African subregion. Second ed. University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, 771 pp.
  • Avery, D. M. 1991. Late Quaternary incidence of some micromammalian species in Natal. Durban Museum Novitates, 16: 1 - 11.
  • Avery, D. M. 1998. An assessment of the lower Pleistocene micromammalian fauna from Swartkrans Members 1 - 3, Gauteng, South Africa. Geobios, 31 (3): 393 - 414.