Nigerian gray mull

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Nigerian gray mull
Systematics
Order : Rodents (Rodentia)
Subordination : Porcupine relatives (Hystricomorpha)
Partial order : Hystricognathi
Family : Sand graves (Bathyergidae)
Genre : Gray Owl ( Fukomys )
Type : Nigerian gray mull
Scientific name
Fukomys foxi
( Thomas , 1911)

The Nigerian gray mull , also Fox gray mull , ( Fukomys foxi , syn .: Cryptomys foxi ) is a species of gray mole ( Fukomys ) within the sand burrows (Bathyergidae), which is mainly adapted to the underground and burrowing way of life. The species occurs at altitudes over 1000 meters and has so far only been documented from the Jos Plateau near Panyam , Nigeria , and from Ngaoundéré in Cameroon .

features

The Nigerian gray mull is a medium-sized gray mull and reaches a head-to-trunk length of about 13.5 to 15.9 centimeters in Nigeria and about 16.1 to 19.1 centimeters in Cameroon. The very short tail is about 11 to 17 millimeters or 16 to 25 millimeters long, the rear foot length is 26 to 31 or 30 to 36 millimeters. A sexual dimorphism is mild in intensity, the males are slightly larger than females. The back and stomach color of the animals is sepia-colored brown, sometimes with white spots on the head and body. The fur is very short, soft and silky. The head is blunt with a white, semicircular spot. The incisors , which have developed into strong incisor teeth , protrude from the jaw and are externally recognizable in front of the lips. The antennae hairs on the head are long, the eyes are very small, and the auricles are absent. The legs are short, the feet pink and bare. The tail is very short and is only about 8 percent of the length of the head and torso, it is equipped with rigid bristles.

The skull length is 39.3 to 43.0 millimeters for specimens from Nigeria and 42.0 to 48.4 millimeters for specimens from Cameroon, at the widest point the skull is 25.7 to 30.0 millimeters or 28.7 to 33.1 millimeters wide. The widest part of the nasal bones is in the front area. The infraorbital window of this species is teardrop-shaped and has a diameter of 1.5 to 2 millimeters. The upper incisors are not grooved and comparatively narrow with a width of about 2.4 millimeters. The upper molars are comparatively short with a length of 7.2 to 8.3 millimeters.

The partially sympatrically occurring Ghana Graumull ( Fukomys zechi ) has a blasszimtfarbene coat color and is slightly larger on average. Other distinguishing features are the slightly wider incisors, the longer upper molars and the shape of the nasal bones. The Nigerian gray mullet has a chromosome set of 2n = 66 or 2n = 70 chromosomes.

distribution

The Nigerian gray mullet occurs at altitudes over 1000 meters and has so far only been documented from the Jos Plateau near Panyam, Nigeria, and from Ngaoundéré in Cameroon.

Way of life

Very little to no information is available about the species' way of life. The sites are typically in dry grass steppes with little vegetation, stony areas and river forests. Like other fukomys also lives this way largely underground in colonies with several animals and digs burrows that animals feed on herbivores of roots, tubers and other plant parts. Twelve animals could be caught in one colony, but the total size of the colony is not known.

Systematics

The Nigerian gray mull is classified as an independent species within the genus of the gray mull ( Fukomys ), which consists of ten to fourteen species. The first scientific description comes from Oldfield Thomas from 1911, who described the animals as Georychus foxi using individuals from the Jos Plateau in Nigeria . Some of the animals were attributed to the Central African gray gull ( Fukomys ochraceocinereus ). In 2006 the genus Cryptomys was separated into two genera based on molecular biological characteristics; Bocages Graumull was assigned to the new genus Fukomys with most of the other species , but the split is not generally accepted.

Apart from the nominate form, no subspecies are distinguished within the species . The species was named after the Reverend George T. Fox , who worked in the Cambridge University mission and caught the type specimen of the species.

Status, threat and protection

The Nigerian gray mull is not classified in a hazard category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) due to the limited knowledge available on distribution and way of life, but is listed as "data deficient".

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Nigel C. Bennett: Cryptomys foxi - Fox's Mole-Rat In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume III. Rodents, Hares and Rabbits. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 654-655; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e R. L. Honeycutt: Nigerian Mole-rat - Fukomys foxi. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editors): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016; P. 368. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  3. ↑ a b c Fukomys foxi in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.4. Posted by: S. Maree, C. Faulkes, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  4. ↑ Colleen M. Ingram, Hynek Burda, Rodney L. Honeycutt: Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of the African mole-rats, genus Cryptomys and the new genus Coetomys Gray, 1864. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (3), 2004; Pp. 997-1014. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2003.11.004
  5. ↑ Dieter Kock, Colleen M. Ingram, Lawrence J. Frabotta, Rodney L. Honeycutt, Hynek Burda: On the nomenclature of Bathyergidae and Fukomys n. Gen. (Mammalia: Rodentia). Zootaxa 1142, 2006; Pp. 51-55.
  6. ↑ a b Cryptomys foxi . In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
  7. ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2009, ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 , pp. 140-141.

literature

  • Nigel C. Bennett: Cryptomys foxi - Fox's Mole-Rat In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume III. Rodents, Hares and Rabbits. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 654-655; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .
  • RL Honeycutt: Nigerian Mole-rat - Fukomys foxi. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editors): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016; P. 368. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .

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