Spiny Mice and Brush-furred Rats
Family Muridae (Deomyinae)
Mammalian Hybrids
EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD GENETICS, ΦΒΚ
Cairo Spiny MouseAcomys cahirinus Image: Wikimedia |
Note: In the northeastern corner of the Sinai Peninsula (northwestern shore of the Gulf of Elat) there is a narrow hybrid zone between two chromosomal races of Acomys cahirinus. Wahrman and Goitein say (1972, p. 235) that it seems “that little correlation exists between the chromosome forms and the present environmental conditions of their respective areas of distribution.”
Acomys cahirinus [Cairo Spiny Mouse] × Acomys cilicicus [Asia Minor Spiny Mouse] CHR. CON: Middle East. Frynta et al. 2010; Frynta and Sadlova 1998. × Acomys dimidiatus [Arabian (or Israeli) Spiny Mouse] CHR. CON: Middle East. Jordan 2000; Volobouev et al. 2007. × Acomys minous (♂) [Crete Spiny Mouse] CHR. DRS. HPF(♀♀). Dieterlen 1963; Matthey 1963. × Acomys nesiotes [Cyprus Spiny Mouse] CHR. DRS. HPF(♀♀). Zahavi and Wahrman 1956.
Acomys cilicicus [Asia Minor Spiny Mouse] See also: Acomys cahirinus. × Acomys nesiotes [Cyprus Spiny Mouse] CHR. DRS. Frynta et al. 2010; Frynta and Sadlova 1998.
Acomys dimidiatus [Arabian (or Israeli) Spiny Mouse] See also: Acomys cahirinus. × Acomys minous (↔) [Crete Spiny Mouse] CHR. DRS. HPF(♀♀). Hybrids from an A. minous dam are smaller than either parent, but those from the reciprocal cross are larger, even at birth (which often causes problems with parturition). A. dimidiatus, which is often lumped with A. cahrinus, is not listed by Duff and Lawson (2004). Eisentraut and Dieterlen 1969.
Acomys minous [Crete Spiny Mouse] See: Acomys cahirinus; A. dimidiatus.
Acomys nesiotes [Cyprus Spiny Mouse] See: Acomys cahirinus; A. nesiotes.
Lophuromys brunneus [Brown Brush-furred Rat] × Lophuromys flavopunctatus [Yellow-spotted Brush-furred Rat] ONHR. HPF(♀♀). Lavrenchenko et al. 2004. × Lophuromys melanonyx [Black-clawed Brush-furred Rat] Lavrenchenko et al. (2007, p. 108) suggest that "transfer of mtDNA between L. melanonyx and L. menageshae (or L. simensis) took place during a previous phase of their differentiation when the chromosomal differences were less pronounced." Such a transfer could only have happened via hybridization. Wilson and Reeder (2005, vol. 12, p. 1204) list simensis as a synonym of brunneus.
Lophuromys flavopunctatus [Yellow-spotted Brush-furred Rat] See: Lophuromys brunneus.
Lophuromys melanonyx [Black-clawed Brush-furred Rat] See also: Lophuromys brunneus. × Lophuromys menageshae [Menagesha Brush-furred Rat] Lavrenchenko et al. (2007, p. 108) suggest that "transfer of mtDNA between L. melanonyx and L. menageshae (or L. simensis) took place during a previous phase of their differentiation when the chromosomal differences were less pronounced." Such a transfer could only have happened via hybridization.
By the same author: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World, Oxford University Press (2006).