Aethomys nyikae (Thomas 1897)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1256

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7316535
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11334352
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F03395C5-AF07-D895-8D71-1FC8933F4BD5
treatment provided by	Guido
scientific name	Aethomys nyikae (Thomas 1897)
status

Treatment

Aethomys nyikae (Thomas 1897) View in CoL

[Aethomys] nyikae (Thomas 1897) View in CoL , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1897: 431.

Type Locality: N Malawi, Nyika Plateau (probably on lower slopes; Ansell and Ansell, 1973; Ansell and Dowsett, 1988; Ansell, 1989 b) .

Vernacular Names: Nyika Aethomys.

Synonyms: Aethomys dollmani Hatt 1934 .

Distribution: Known only from NE Zambia (1978), Malawi ( Ansell and Dowsett, 1988; Ansell, 1989 b), NE Angola ( Crawford-Cabral, 1998), and S Dem. Rep. Congo ( Hatt, 1934 b); see Davis (1975 b).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Delany (1975) considered nyikae to be a synonym of A. kaiseri , but others ( Davis, 1975 b; Ansell, 1978, 1989 b) correctly treated it as a separate species. Ansell (1978) documented geographic range and discussed identity of dollmani ; inclusion of that taxon, which is based upon samples from S Dem. Rep. Congo ( Hatt, 1934 b), is provisional ( Davis, 1975 b). The published record from Eastern Ngorima Reserve in E Zimbabwe ( Davis, 1975b), represented by the only specimen (now lost) from south of the Zambezi River, is probably based on a juvenile A. silindensis (Chimimba, 1998:434) and is likely the basis for de Graaff’s ( 1997 x) indication that A. nyikae occurs in the Southern African Subregion. All current evidence indicates the species does not occur in southern Africa south of the Zambezi-Cunene Rivers (C. T. Chimimba, 2002, in litt.). A specimen collected at Duque de Bragança, just north of the Central Angolan Plateau, may represent A. nyikae or an unnamed species related to it (Crawford-Cabral, 1999). Aethomys nyikae and A. kaiseri are sympatric in Zambia and probably E Angola ( Crawford-Cabral, 1998).