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HOME --> CLASS MAMMALIA
--> ORDER RODENTIA
--> SUBORDER SCIUROMORPHA
--> FAMILY Gliridae
--> SUBFAMILY Graphiurinae
--> GENUS Graphiurus
--> SUBGENUS Graphiurus
SPECIES Graphiurus (Graphiurus) johnstoni
| Author: | Thomas, 1897. | | Actual Date: | 1898 | | Citation: | Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1897: 934. | | Common Name: | Johnston’s African Dormouse | | Type Locality: | Malawi: Zomba | | Distribution: | S Malawi (Happold and Happold, 1997a [as G. lorraineus]; Thomas, 1898); limits unknown. | | Comments: | Subgenus Graphiurus. Ansell and Dowsett (1988), Ansell (1989b), and Holden (1993) synonymized johnstoni under G. kelleni. My recent reexamination and comparisons of museum specimens (including all holotypes), and preliminary unpublished multivariate analyses indicate that G. johnstoni represents a species distinct from, but morphologically closely related to, G. lorraineus, not G. kelleni (before my analyses were completed, I identified a specimen of G. johnstoni as G. lorraineus in Happold and Happold, 1997a, 1998). Few specimens exist that can be attributed to G. johnstoni. If future research using larger samples of G. johnstoni indicates that G. johnstoni and G. lorraineus are conspecific, the latter would be a junior synonym of G. johnstoni (see account of G. lorraineus). Holden (In press) reviewed G. johnstoni as a species pending additional study. See comments under G. kelleni and G. murinus. |
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