Published December 31, 1993 | Version v1

Mastomys coucha

Description

Mastomys coucha (Smith, 1834). Rept. Exped. Exploring Central Africa, p. 43.

TYPE LOCALITY: South Africa, N Cape Prov., between Orange River and Tropic of Capricorn (see Meester et al., 1986:286).

DISTRIBUTION: South Africa (E and N Cape Prov., Zululand, Lesotho, Orange Free State, S and W Transvaal), S and W Zimbabwe, C Namibia (see map in Skinner and Smithers, 1990:270); extent of range beyond this region unresolved.

SYNONYMS: bradfieldi, breyeri, limpopoensis, marikquensis, sicialis, socialis.

COMMENTS: Characterized by 2N=36 (FN=56) and a distinctive hemoglobin electromorph, coucha occurs sympatrically with M. natalensis, which is distinguished by different hemoglobin pattern and 2N=32, FN=54 (Green et al., 1980). The two species also differ in cranial, phallic, and spermatozoal morphology as well as reproductive behavior, ultrasonic vocalizations, and phermones (see references in Skinner and Smithers, 1990). Synonyms listed are only those pertaining to samples from South Africa for reasons explained by Meester et al. (1986); of these, Robbins and Van der Straeten (1989) regarded marikquensis to be a Myomys, and Robbins (in Meester et al., 1986) claimed it may be a species distinct from Myomys verreauxii.

Notes

Published as part of Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, pp. 501-755 in Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London :Smithsonian Institution Press on page 610, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7353098

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Linked records

Additional details

Related works

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Smith
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Order
Rodentia
Family
Muridae
Genus
Mastomys
Species
coucha
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Mastomys coucha (Smith, 1834) sec. Musser & Carleton, 1993

References

  • Meester, J. A. J., I. L. Rautenbach, N. J. Dippenaar, and C. M. Baker. 1986. Classification of southern African mammals. Transvaal Museum Monograph, 5: 1 - 359.
  • 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.
  • Robbins, C. B., and E. Van der Straeten. 1989. Comments on the systematics of Mastomys Thomas 1915 with the description of a new West African species. Senckenbergiana Biologica, 69: 1 - 14.