Orycteropus afer matschiei is a reddish-brown aardvark with a long, narrow skull, described from Mikindani in south-east Tanzania.[1]
Names and classification
Grote named it Orycteropus afer matschiei in 1921, in the same article as lademanni (Archiv für Naturgeschichte 87A, p. 122).[1][2] He dedicated it to Professor P. Matschie, who had given him access to the Berlin material.[1]
The Mammal Diversity Database treats this name as a synonym of the single species, Orycteropus afer.[2] Taylor’s 2011 account lists it among 18 named subspecies, but says that neither their validity nor the limits of their ranges are properly known.[3]
Description
Grote described hair that is short, rather sparse and reddish-brown, with dark brown limbs and ears of about 15.2 cm. One tail was strongly rust-red, which he put down to the laterite soil.[1] The skull is very long and narrow (245–250 mm long, 88 mm wide) with a very long snout.[1]
Range
It is given as living in south-east Tanzania. The type came from Mikindani, on the south coast.[3][1]
Status
Eighteen subspecies have been named, but that number is almost certainly too high, and because so little material exists, neither the status nor the limits of range of the subspecies are known.[4] Treat this name as a historical description, not as a settled form. See the full list of names.
Sources
- Grote 1921, “Neue Erdferkel (Orycteropus) aus Deutsch-Ostafrika und Kamerun”, Archiv für Naturgeschichte 87A
- Mammal Diversity Database, Orycteropus afer
- Taylor 2011, Order Tubulidentata, in Handbook of the Mammals of the World, vol. 2
- California Academy of Sciences, Afrotheria research page: Tubulidentata (secondary)