EVOLUTION OF THE GENUS ACOMYS (RODENTIA, MURIDAE) FROM DENTAL AND CHROMOSOMAL PATTERNS

Acomys exhibits specie-specific dental patterns. Different dental crit eria allowing one to recognize the different Acomys species are given. We focus on the distinction between members of the A. cahirinus-A. di midiatus complex. After the morphological description of the molars an d the presentation of skull and external characteristics for each spec ies, different evolutionary trends encountered within the genus are di scussed on the basis of the dental patterns of fossil Acomys and recen t developments in chromosome and electrophoretic studies. The validiti es of the three species A, airensis, A. cahirinus, and A. dimidiatus a re confirmed, as they are clearly separated according to skull measure ments. Members of the A. cineraceus complex exhibit heterogeneous char acters, and a new subgenus name is proposed for A. subspinosus.