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HOME --> CLASS MAMMALIA
--> ORDER RODENTIA
--> SUBORDER MYOMORPHA
--> SUPERFAMILY Muroidea
--> FAMILY Nesomyidae
--> SUBFAMILY Dendromurinae
--> GENUS Steatomys
SPECIES Steatomys opimus
| Author: | Pousargues, 1894. | | Citation: | Bull. Soc. Zool. De France, 19: 131. | | Common Name: | Pousargues African Fat Mouse | | Type Locality: | Central African Republic, near Balao, Dakoas Dist., 05º26'N., 17º40'E. | | Distribution: | Moist savanna and forest margins from Cameroon, through S Central African Repbulic and N Dem. Rep. Congo (Faradje and Niangara per AMNH specimens), to extreme SW Sudan. | | Comments: | Closely similar to the large-bodied S. bocagei in body and cranial dimensions, but with five pairs of teats (abdominal pair in addition to the other four; AMNH specimens from Faradje and Niangara). Included in S. pratensis by Coatzee (1977a), but opimus is much larger in body and cranial dimensions than samples from eastern and southern Africa. Hatt (1940a) redescribed S. opimus as a species based on AMNH series, emphasized traits that distinguish it from other Steatomys, and explained that the holotype of gazellae is another example of it. Status of S. opimus with respect to the large-bodied West African S. jacksoni requires resolution. |
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| Offspring: | Synonyms:
gazellae Thomas and Hinton, 1923
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