NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Southern African Mastomys
Mastomys coucha (A. Smith, 1834)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Multimammate Mouse (Mastomys coucha)
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Open encyclopedia reference
The southern multimammate mouse or southern African mastomys (Mastomys coucha) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae which is endemic to southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe). It is called a multimammate mouse because it can have 8 to 12 pairs of mammae (milk producing glands), in comparison other mouse species only have 5 pairs.
Wikipedia contributors, Southern multimammate mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:08:42.887253+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mastomys coucha (A. Smith, 1834)
- Name authority
- (A. Smith, 1834)
- Common name
- Southern African Mastomys
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Mastomys
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
- subfamilyMurinae Illiger, 1811
- genusMastomys Thomas, 1915
- speciesMastomys coucha (A. Smith, 1834)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mastomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Reddish-white MastomysMastomys erythroleucus (Temminck, 1853) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hubert's MastomysMastomys huberti (Wroughton, 1909) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kollmannsperger's MastomysMastomys kollmannspergeri (F. Petter, 1957) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Coucha RatMastomys natalensis (A. Smith, 1834) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Shortridge's MastomysMastomys shortridgei (St. Leger, 1933) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Awash MastomysMastomys awashensis Lavrenchenko, Likhnova & Baskevich, 1998 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dwarf MastomysMastomys pernanus (Kershaw, 1921) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Mus limpopoensis Roberts, 1914 Roberts, 1914 | synonym |
| Mus marikquensis A. Smith, 1836 A. Smith, 1836 | synonym |
| Mus socialis Roberts, 1913 Roberts, 1913 | synonym |
| Mastomys coucha bradfieldi Roberts, 1926 Roberts, 1926 | synonym |
| Mus breyeri Roberts, 1915 Roberts, 1915 | synonym |
| Mus silaceus Wagner, 1842 Wagner, 1842 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585318 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3YDJN. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.