© Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/; www.zoologicalbulletin.de; www.biologiezentrum.at Bonn. zool. Beitr. Bd. 42 H. 1 S. 17—19 Bonn, März 1991 The type locality of Otomys angoniensis Wroughton, 1906 W. F. H. Ansell & R. J. Dowsett Abstract. The type locality of Otomys angoniensis Wroughton, 1906 has never been satisfactorily defined. Although it is not possible to be definite it seems most likely that it is the place today known as the Matipa Forest, Malawi in quarter degree square 0933-C-2. Key words. Mammaha, Muridae, Otomys angoniensis, type locahty, Malawi. Ansell & Dowsett (1988: 101) were unable to trace the type locality of Otomys irrora- tus angoniensis Wroughton (currently regarded as a species, O. angoniensis), and we are still unableto settle the question definitely. The following, however, amphfies the footnote to page 101. The label ofthe type specimen has A. Sharpe Esq. C. B., B. C. Africa and Collec- torprinted onthe obverse side, and written in ink are 2.1.6.22, Otomysirroratuswith irroratus crossed out and angoniensis Wr. added, also Type and a figure 33. On the reverse side is written Mkombui with an indecipherable letter following the i (which is not dotted), Otomys irroratus and HF 30, E. 21. The original description (Wroughton, 1906: 274) gave the locality as: M'Khom- buie, B.C.A., (Sir H. Johnston). Alt. 8000', and Skead (1973: 106) wrote: "Kombe, Dedza, S. Angoniland, Malawi 1414/3422 Syn. Mkombjuie; M'kombwe; Kombi; M'kombhuie; Mamm. Otomys agoniensis (sic), Wroughton, 1906. Bds. Seicercus ruficapillusjohnstoni, Sclater, 1927" The type locality of Seicercus ruficapillusjohnstoni is clearly given in the original description as "Kombi, Masuka (sic) Range, north-west ofLake Nyasa at about 7000 ft" We have ascertained from the bird section of the British Museum (Natural History) that the label on the type specimen (Number 97.11.4.73) records the collec- tor as A. Whyte, the date of collection as July 1896, and the locality as KOMBI (though the writing on the label is not very clear). Alternative names Kekombe, Khombwe, Komba, Kombe, and Kombo for the Matipa Forest were listed by us in — ourgazetteer (Ansell&Dowsett, 1988: 143) wethink itUkelythat theyare no more than later misspellings of Kombi, itself now apparently no longer in use. "Kombe Forest, Masuku Range, 7000 feet" is the type locality ofthe squirrelParaxerus lucifer BM (Thomas, 1897), the type specimen, 97.10.1.80, having also been collected by Whyte in July 1896. Whyte left the country some time after his journey to the north, his last recorded collecting site being Mount Malosa, near Zomba in 1896 (Thomas, 1898: 926). The type series of Otomys irroratus angoniensis does not have any indication of the date of collection and neither do specimens of Pelomys fallax and Dasymys incomtus also attributed to M'Khombhuie. Thomas (1898: 935) mentioned speci- © Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/; www.zoologicalbulletin.de; www.biologiezentrum.at 18 W. F. H. Ansell & R. J. Dowsett mens of Otomys irrorarus = O. cmgoniensis) collected by W'hyte in June and July ( 1896 from only the Nyika Plateau, Fort Hill (= Chitipa) and Zomba, so Whyte evidently did not collect the type and paratypes of Otomys angoniensis. They were registered at the BM in 1902 among a series numbered 2.1.6.1 to 2.1.6.30 presented by Alfred Sharpe; while specimens 2.1.6.31, 2.1.6.33 and 2.1.6.34 immediately follo- wing were noted as having been collected by J. McClounie. Thoughthe register could be clearer on the point it seems likely that the whole series 2.1.6.1 to 2.1.6.34 was collected by McClounie and presented by Sharpe. Wroughton (1906) attributed the specimens ofangoniensis, as well as its synonym nyikae, described in the same paper, to Johnston but, while this was correct for nyikae, he overlooked Sharpe's name on the labels of the angoniensis series. — Lawrence and Loveridge (1953: 66 670) discussed the type locality of O. ango- niensis and concluded, on the basis of information given by the late C. W. Benson, that it was unlikely to be in the Misuku area, but probably Kombe about 15 miles north-northeast ofDedza boma at an altitude of 5000 feet; or possibly Khombe near the shore of Lake Nyasa about 25 miles northeast of Dedza at 1600 feet. There is a Khombe (sic) at 14°09' S, 34°19' E, which is clearly one of the places indicated by Benson, though due north rather than northeast of Dedza. The National Atlas of Malawi (Survey Department, Government of Malawi, 1983) does not give any indication of a site of that name near the lake shore to the northeast of Dedza. The only other Khombe in the National Atlas is in the Mchinji District, 13°45' S, 32°59' E, altitude 1100 m, which clearly has no bearing on the type locality question. Skead (1973: 106) recorded 14°14' S, 34°22' E, as the co-ordinates for Kombe but this is the site of Kapesi. Clearly the Kombe at 14°09' S, 34""19' E, comes nearest to the indicationgivenby Lawrence and Loveridge but, even allowing forthe fact that many of the heights recorded in early accounts of Malawi were over-estimated, the discre- pancy in altitude is much too great. The only place in "Angoniland" which comes anywhere near the 8000 feet mentioned in the original description of O. angoniensis would be Dedza Mountain, of which the summit is 2198 m (about 7200 feet). Although the species does occur on the mountain there is no reason whatever to con- nect it with "M'Khombuie". While Skead (loc. cit.) must have been relying on Lawrence and Loveridge (1953: — 66 67) as far as Otomysangoniensis is concerned, it is not at all clear why he asso- ciated the Dedza District with Seicercus ruficapillus johnstoni in view of the type locality given in the original description, as already mentioned above. On the other hand it seems reasonable to suppose that "M'Khombhuie", also Mkombjuie and M'kombwe, could be yet other obsolete synonyms for the present Matipa Forest not- withstanding Benson's rejection, of which see further below. McClounie may have collected the specimens of Otomys angoniensis there, though he took only two and a half days to reach Fort Hill (present day Chitipa) from Karonga, and his map (McClounie 1903: 425) shows Musuku Hill (sic) north of Fort Hill though not on his indicated route. Allen (1939: 343), followed by Ellerman, Morrison-Scott and Hayman (1953: 309), added "Angoniland" to the description ofthe type locality, apparently with no other justification than the name ''angoniensis'' itself. It is also clear from Benson's letter — to Loveridge (Lawrence and Loveridge 1953: 66 67) that it was the name which © Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/; www.zoologicalbulletin.de; www.biologiezentrum.at Type locality of Otomys angoniensis 19 caused him to reject the Misuku area as the type locality. Prima facie this seems rea- sonable enough because the Misukus were not part of "Angoniland" even in the ra- ther imprecise way the name was applied (Ansell & Dowsett 1988: 128). However, a possible explanation is that Wroughton, who did not know the country personally, gave the name angoniensis simply because at the time the administration was, or had recently been, engaged in military confrontation with the Angoni people. While this may appear somew—hat tenuous, there is a parallel in the name Scotophilus dinganii (A. Smith, 1833) the Zulu warrior chief can hardly have had anything to do personally with the discovery of the bat. Although it is not possible to be definite about the type locality of Otomys ango- niensis, we think that on balance it is probably the vicinity ofthe place today known as the Matipa Forest, in square 0933-C-2. Zusammenfassung DasVerbreitungsgebiet derArt OtomysangoniensisWroughton, 1906wurdeniezufriedenstel- lend definiert. Obwohl eine endgültige Zuordnung nicht möglich ist, ist es höchstwahrschein- lich das heute Matipa Forest (0933-6-2) genannte Gebiet in Malawi. References — Allen, G. M. (1939): A check list ofAfrican mammals. Bull. Mus. comp. ZooL, Harvard 83: 1-763. Ansell, W. F. H. &R. J. Dowsett (1988): Mammals ofMalawi. — TrendrinePress, Zennor, St. Ives, Cornwall, U. K. Ellerman, J. —R., T. C. S. Morrison-Scott & R. W. Hayman (1953): Southern African Mammals. British Museum (Natural History), London. Lawrence, B. L. & A. Loveridge (1953): Zoological results of a fifth expedition to East — Africa, I. Mammals from^ Nyasaland and Tete. Bull. Mus. comp. ZooL, Harvard 110 1-80. McC(l1)o:unie, J. (1903): A journey across the Ny—ika Plateau. — Geogr. J. 22 (4): 423—437. Skead, C. J. (1973): Zoo-Historical Gazetteer. Ann. Cape Prov. Mus. 10: i—v, 1—259. Thomas, O. (1898): On the Mammals obtained by Mr. A. Whyte in Nyasaland, and presen- ted to the British Museum by Sir H. H. Johnston, K. C. B.; being a fifth Contribution — — to the Mammal-fauna of Nyasaland. Proc. zool. Soc. London, for 1897: 925 939. Wroughton, R. C. (1906): Notes on the genus Otomys, — Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (ser. 7) 18: 264-278. U W. F. H. Ansell, Trendrine, Zennor, St. Ives, Cornwall, K.; R. J. Dowsett, Rue de Bois de Breux 194, B 4500 Jupille, Liege, Belgium. ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Bonn zoological Bulletin - früher Bonner Zoologische Beiträge. Jahr/Year: 1991 Band/Volume: 42 Autor(en)/Author(s): Ansell W. F. H., Dowsett R. J. Artikel/Article: The type locality of Otomys angoniensis Wroughton, 1906 17-19