Genus
Ochromyscus
Description
The genus Ochromyscus, white-bellied rocky mice, is a recently delineated genus containing three species (O. brockmani, O. niveiventris and O. yemeni) formerly included in the genus Myomyscus (Meheretu Yonas et al., 2023). The distribution of O. brockmani and O. niveiventris is restricted in East Africa while O.yemeni in southern Arabia. Based on phylogenetic analysis O.brockmani has three lineages (O.brokmani-North, O.brockmani-East and O.brokmani-South) and O.niveiventris four lineages (O. sp.3_Arero, O. sp.3_South, O. sp.3_North and O.sp.3_Uganda). Among these, all of the O.brokmani and two lineages of O.niveiventris (O.sp.3_North and O.sp.3_Arero) are found in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, O. brokmani is widely distributed in the eastern and central parts of the country including in Alamata, Chimit Kola, Harar, Sof Omar and others while O.niveiventris found in southwestern parts of Ethiopia. They prefer dry habitats with forested rocky outcrops and others.
Taxonomy
Ochromyscus is a genus. It belogs to the Muridae family.There are 2 lower taxonomic units covered in this database.
