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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Southern African Spiny Mouse

Acomys (Acomys) spinosissimus Peters, 1852

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.

Open encyclopedia reference

The southern African spiny mouse (Acomys spinosissimus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Its natural habitats are moist savanna and rocky areas.

Wikipedia contributors, Southern African spiny mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:48:52.298932+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Acomys (Acomys) spinosissimus Peters, 1852
Name authority
Peters, 1852
Common name
Southern African Spiny Mouse
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Muridae
Genus
Acomys
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
  11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
  12. suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
  13. superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
  14. familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
  15. subfamilyDeomyinae Thomas, 1888
  16. genusAcomys I. Geoffroy, 1838
  17. subgenusAcomys I. Geoffroy, 1838
  18. speciesAcomys (Acomys) spinosissimus Peters, 1852

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Acomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Cyprus Spiny MouseAcomys (Acomys) nesiotes Bate, 1903MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Northeast African Spiny MouseAcomys (Acomys) cahirinus (É. Geoffroy, 1803)MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Crete Spiny MouseAcomys (Acomys) minous Bate, 1906MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Cape Spiny MouseAcomys (Subacomys) subspinosus (Waterhouse, 1838)MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Chudeau's Spiny MouseAcomys (Acomys) chudeaui Kollman, 1911MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Gray Spiny MouseAcomys (Acomys) cineraceus Fitzinger & Heuglin, 1866MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Fiery Spiny MouseAcomys (Acomys) ignitus Dollman, 1910MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Kemp's Spiny MouseAcomys (Acomys) kempi Dollman, 1911MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Acomys (Acomys) ngurui Verheyen, Hulselmans, Wendelen, Leirs, Corti, Backeljau & Verheyen, 2011MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Acomys (Acomys) selousi De Winton, 1896MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Turkish Spiny MouseAcomys (Acomys) cilicicus Spitzenberger, 1978MuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 672 records assigned to Muridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Africa

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.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585110 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:9FZH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.