Praomys rostratus (Miller 1900)

[Mus] tullbergi Miller 1900, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., 2: 637.

Type Locality: Liberia, Mt Coffee.

Vernacular Names: West African Praomys.

Distribution: Recorded only from forest in Liberia, C Guinea (Ziegler et al., 2002), Mt Nimba region of Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire; limits unresolved.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: 2n = 34 (Gautun et al., 1986). Member of the P. tullbergi complex. Originally described as a subspecies of tullbergi, but Van der Straeten and Verheyen (1981) distinguished rostratus from tullbergi by its greater body size, noted that both kinds were sympatric, and raised rostratus to specific rank. A similar distribution of body sizes, as well as different ecologies, were claimed by Gautun et al. (1986) from Mt Nimba, and they also separated their samples into either P. tullbergi or P. rostratus. However, the existence of a larger-bodied species in W Africa related to P. tullbergi requires verification because published data separating the two is not convincing according to L. Granjon (in litt., 2002): "The text by Gautun et al. (1986) is not clear, and in Mali we now have a good sample of 2n = 34 (all acrocentric autosomes) Praomys from various localities with measurements covering the entire range of the two species as analyzed by Van der Straeten and Verheyen (1981), in which no individual measurement would distinguish between the two species." If proved a distinct species, P. rostratus would be part of the murine fauna endemic to W Africa (see account of Grammomys buntingi).