Praomys tullbergi ( Thomas, 1894 )

Denys, Christiane, Missoup, Alain Didier, Nicolas, Violaine, Sylla, Morlaye, Douno, Mory, Kadjo, Blaise, Lalis, Aude & Monadjem, Ara, 2025, Annotated checklist of rodents from a biodiversity hotspot, Mount Nimba (West Africa), Zoosystema 47 (27), pp. 617-689 : 645

Praomys tullbergi ( Thomas, 1894)

Mus tullbergi Thomas, 1894: 205 .

REMARKS

The holotype was described in 1892 under the name Mus burtoni by Thomas from Ankober [= Ankobra] River, Wasa, Ashantee, Gold Coast region and in 1894 was renamed to Mus tullbergi because the name burtoni was preoccupied by another species ( Thomas 1892, 1894). Heim de Balsac & Lamotte (1958) described two morphs of Praomys that they attributed to P. jacksoni and P. morio . A large form with a long hindfoot that could fit with P. rostratus and a smaller one that could represent P.tullbergi . Coe (1975) recorded 94 specimens attributed to P. tullbergi and Misonne & Verschuren (1976) also recovered more than 100 specimens from the Liberian side of Mount Nimba indicating that they represent a single homogeneous series and named them as P. tullbergi . Gautun et al. (1986) indicated that both species coexist on the Guinean side of Mount Nimba. The Cyt b barcoding has allowed us to attribute old collection specimens to P. tullbergi which confirms previous works.

P.tullbergi is very similar in external morphology to P. rostratus in having also a rufous-brown dorsal pelage, a white belly and a tail length longer than HB one (mean: 121,8%; range: 105-136%) ( Table 7 ). The hindfeet are on average smaller in P.tullbergi than in P.rostratus (21.3 versus 24.5 mm), although there is some overlap here ( Table 7 ). The skull does not display any visible fronto-parietal crest, the nasal is long and relatively narrow in front. The braincase is oval. On the ventral side the infraorbital foramen is long and enters between the molar rows until the prelobe of the upper M1/. The tympanic bullae are round and small ( Table 8 ). The molars of the specimens identified by molecular sequencing as P. tullbergi (MNHN-ZM-2011-594) are quite similar to those of P. rostratus . The cusps of the upper M1/ prelobe are less individualized than in P. rostratus but the difference is subtle.