Genus
Arvicanthis
Description
This genus includes primarily diurnal rodents, often very abundant in various types of open grassland habitats (from arid lowland savanna to Afroalpine grasslands). The taxonomy of this genus is still far from resolved, but a recent multilocus genetic study (Bryja et al. 2019) has shed light on the evolutionary history of this important group and described diversity patterns. There are eight genetic clades in Ethiopia, occupying different regions and habitats of the country and they are considered here as separate species. Bryja et al. (2019) proposed names for particular Ethiopian taxa based on the analysis of original species descriptions and we follow this work here. However, these names need to be confirmed by comparison with the type material, which is unfortunately impossible for some of them as they have been destroyed (see Bryja et al. 2019). Three species are endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands (A. abyssinicus, A. blicki, A. saturatus), and two to lowland savanna mainly in the Ethiopian Rift Valley
(A. mearnsi, A. raffertyi). The remaining three species (A. somalicus, A. niloticus, A. niloticus “C2-C4” sensu Bryja et al. 2019) have wide distributions extending to other parts of Africa.
Taxonomy
Arvicanthis is a genus. It belogs to the Muridae family.There are 9 lower taxonomic units covered in this database.
