Fox's Dasymys

discussion

Discussion: Member of the D. incomtus species complex (W. Verheyen et al., 2003). Originally described as a species, but subsequently treated as a subspecies of D. incomtus (Ellerman, 1941; Happold, 1987; Misonne, 1974; Rosevear, 1969) until the review by Carleton and Martinez (1991), who contrasted foxi ’ s distinctive morphological and distributional traits (larger body size is one of these) with the smaller-bodied D. rufulus (see account), the other and more common species in West Africa. Multivariate analyses of craniometric data by W. Verheyen et al. (2003: 48) clustered a sample from Pulima, NW Ghana, with that from Panyam on the Jos Plateau, and W. Verheyen et al. speculated that the species of Dasymys living " ... in the Guinean and Sudanese savannahs [of West Africa] should probably all be referred to the foxi taxon .... " This conclusion conflicts with results of the multivariate analyses of cranial and dentail measurements reported by Carleton and Marinez (1991) that showed a clear separation of samples collected in Liberia (including type series of rufulus), Ivory Coast, Ghana (including a large sample from Pulima), Togo, and Nigeria (west of the Jos Plateau) from a lar

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

materials_examined

Type Locality: Nigeria, Panyam, 4000 ft (1220 m); 09 ° 27 N, 09 ° 52 ’ E (W. Verheyen et al., 2003).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

discussion

COMMENTS: Reviewed by Carleton and Martinez (1991), who contrasted its distinctive morphological and distributional traits with D. rufulus, the common species of Dasymys in West Africa.

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

activity

Activity patterns. Fox’s Shaggy Rats are presumably crepuscular and diurnal, like other members of genus.

Muridae