Abstract:
The rodent fauna of Tanzanian savannahs is poorly known. For this reason, the Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei sponsored a project together with the Biology Department of Antwerp and the Sokoine
University of Agriculture (Morogoro, Tanzania) on Eastern African rodents. The aim was to study the
taxonomy and systematics of rodents of these areas and the processes through which rodent biodiversity
has increased in these African regions. We present here a report of the expeditions carried out in the
Maasai steppe of Tanzania during 1999, with the description of the karyotypes of 13 rodent species.
These are: Saccostomus cf. mearnsi (Cricetomynae), Tatera cf. robusta, Gerbillus cf. pusillus (Gerbillinae),
Acomys spinosissimus, Acomys wilsoni, Acomys ignitus, Aethomys cf. chrysophilus, Arvicanthis cf. neumanni,
Arvicanthis cf. nairobae, Grammomys sp., Lemniscomys rosalia, Lemniscomys cf. zebra, Mastomys natalensis
(Murinae). The karyotypes of eight species are described for the first time (Saccostomus cf. mearnsi, Gerbillus
cf. pusillus, Acomys wilsoni, Acomys ignitus, Arvicanthis cf. neumanni, Arvicanthis cf. nairobae, Grammomys
sp., Lemniscomys rosalia).
