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THE SYSTEMATICS, ECOLOGY, AND ZOOGEOGRAPHY OF THE AFRICAN GERBILS, TATERILLUS (RODENTIA: CRICETIDAE) Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Robbins, Charles Brian, 1940- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 19:11:22 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/289257 INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. 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The University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1975 Zoology Xerox University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. THE SYSTEMATICS, ECOLOGY, AND ZOOGEOGRAPHY OF THE AFRICAN GERBILS, TATERILLUS (RODENTIA: CRICETIDAE) by Charles Brian Robbins A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN ZOOLOGY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 7 5 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Charles Brian Robbins entitled The Systematica, Ecology, and Zoogeography of the African gerbils, Taterillus (RodentiatCricetidae) be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy CscJLyunx 31 147$ Dissertation Director Date After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:-' QuMjeXV* O-frQ-M—- // in 5 // /)oh/ /?7J~ J j 7 (\pr'J This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: S/Uq^ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I extend my deepest gratitude to my major professor, Dr. E. Lendeli Cockrum, for his guidance as chairman of my graduate committee, for his advice and encouragement during this study, and for his critical reading of the earlier drafts. Special thanks also go to Dr. Henry W. Setzer, for providing me with the African Mammal Project specimens, for allowing me space in the Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C., to conduct the major part of this research, for arranging for my participation in the African Mammal Project as field collector in Mauritania, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, and Dahomey, and for his many helpful suggestions during this research. My sincere appreciation is extended to the following staff members and technical personnel of the Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History. Charles 0. Handley, Jr., Richard Thorington, Duane A. Schlitter, John H. Miles, Jr., David Harvey, Arthur Brigida, Frank Greenwell, and Helen Hutchinson. For permission to study specimens in their collec tions and for the loan of comparative material, I thank Dr. G. C. Corbett and I. R. Bishop of the Mammal Room, British Museum of Natural History, London; Dr. Francis Petter, Zoologie, Mammals and Fish, Museum National d'Histoire iii iv Naturelle, Paris; Dr. Sydney Anderson, Division of Mammals, American Museum of Natural History, New York; Dr. Barbara Lawrence and Charles W. Mack, Mammal Department, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Boston, Massa chusetts; Dr. Louis de la Torre, Division of Mammals, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois; Dr. Donald Patten and Dean Harvey, Division of Mammals, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California; Dr. Heinz Felten, Zoologie, Natur-Museum Senckenberg, Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany; Dr. R. Angermann, Museum fur Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Democratic Republic of Germany; Dr. Xavier Misonne, Department of Zoology, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium; Dr. Walter H. Verheyen, Laboratorium von Alegemene Dierkunde, Rijsuniversitair Centrum von Antwerpe, Antwerp, Belgium; Professor M, Poll and Dr. Thys Van Den Audenaerde, Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium; Dr. E, Tortonese, Director, Museo Civico de Storia Naturale "Giacomo Doria," Genoa, Italy; Dr. F. W. Braestrup, Universitets Zoologiske Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark; Dr. Greta Vestergren, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet Sektionen for Vertebratzoologie, Stockholm, Sweden; and Mr. Aggundy I. R., Curator of Mammals, The National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, I would also like to acknowledge the time and efforts of the following members of my graduate committee. V Drs. Charles H. Lowe, Robert Chiasson, Russell Davis, Paul S. Martin, and Everett H. Lindsay. I am grateful to Daniel Piecesi, Charles Roberts, Neil Roth, and Douglas Lorenz of the Information Systems Division of the Smithsonian Institution. They provided me with statistical assistance and computer programs involved in this study. Advice and assistance in multivariate statistics were given to me by Don E. Wilson and Michael A. Bogan of the National Bird and Mammal Labs, U. S, Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service, Smithsonian Institution. They also provided me with computer time on the Department of Interior computer for the NT-SYS programs. I am also grateful to Alfred L. Gardner for assistance with system- atics and especially cytogenetic interpretations, To my wife Norrie, I am especially grateful for her understanding patience and constant encouragement during the preparation of this dissertation, for the preparation of the illustrations which appear in the text, and for the thankless job of recording innumerable skull measurements. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the interest, encouragement, and support of my parents, Charles J. and Virginia Robbins, throughout my academic career. Travel to foreign and domestic museums was supported by National Science Foundation Grant GB 35143 to myself, E, L, Cockrum, and The University of Arizona, Field work vi in Kenya was also supported by National Science Foundation Grant GB 35143 to myself, Duane A. Schlitter, The University of Arizona, and the University of Maryland. Duane Schlitter's field assistance in Kenya is gratefully acknowl edged. Without the above support the completion of this reaearch would not have been possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix LIST OF TABLES . xii ABSTRACT xiv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. HISTORY OF TATERILLUS NOMENCLATURE ....... 11 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS 17 Plan