Abstract
Small terrestrial mammals and their biogeographical affinities were studied on Mount Kitumbeine, one of the little known volcanoes in the Gregory Rift Valley (northern Tanzania). In June, 2015, a total of 10 species, two insectivores and eight rodents, were recorded during a short-time sampling in two high altitude habitats. Taxonomic identification was based on genetic data allowing zoogeographic interpretations. For most of the taxa, there was a clear link with fauna of the northern part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, but there were also species with their core distributions in the Albertine Rift Mountains (Crocidura montis) as well as taxa endemic to the volcanic Northern Highlands (e.g. Hanang or Ngorongoro), such as Lophuromys makundi and probably Otomys angoniensis. Comparison of genotyped small mammals from Kitumbeine and neighboring hills with previously collected data revealed the first genetically confirmed Tanzanian records of two species (C. montis and Lophuromys stanleyi) and one species (Lophuromys sabunii) is reported for the first time from Zambia. The present study thus showed that, even in such well-studied areas like northern Tanzania, a basic faunistic survey of mammals can still bring interesting results stressing the need to study biota in small and poorly known areas.
Acknowledgments
The field work and genotyping were done within the activities of the Centre of Excellence supported by the Czech Science Foundation (grant no. 14-36098G). We are grateful to the Sokoine University of Morogoro for administrative support and the directors of the Pest Management Centre, Prof. A. Massawe and Prof. R. Makundi, for logistic support during the field work. We also thank the Longido and Monduli District Administration for cooperation and assistance, which made our work successful. V. Mazoch, A. Katakweba, O. Mikula, J. Krásová, G. Phamphi and J. Vrbová Komárková helped during field sampling in Tanzania and K. R. Edwards corrected the English language. We also acknowledge the comments of J. C. Kerbis Peterhans and one anonymous reviewer on the previous version of the manuscript.
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