In the Republic of Guinea (West Africa), the diversity and distribution of striped grass mice of the genus Lemniscomys is poorly known. In the course of long-term field surveys from 2003 to 2011, we collected 97 specimens from various regions of Guinea with the aim of characterizing the morphological and genetic diversity of the genus in the country. We performed an integrative study that allowed us to detect the existence of at least two species in the collected specimens. Two molecular clades, corresponding to different karyotypes, were recovered. By comparison with type specimens and using classical morphometric analyses, we are able to confirm the presence of L. linulus and L. striatus in Guinea. We redescribe the skull and dental characters of the poorly known L. linulus and report its standard karyotype formula (2N = 56, NFa = 66). We did not collect any L. zebra in Guinea despite its presence in South Mali. In conclusion, the distributions of L. striatus and L. linulus described for Guinea and, including the previously reported L. bellieri, three species are now known to occur in this country. We recognise these three species as valid pending further revision of the genus at a pan-African scale.
The Lama forest is the largest natural forest in southern Benin, and one of the last remnant forests within the Dahomey Gap. It harbours several species of major importance in terms of conservation. Small mammals are known to represent more than 80% of the African mammalian species diversity but they have received little attention in Benin. In this article we present the results of the first terrestrial small mammal species inventory (murid rodents and shrews) in the Lama forest. In September and October 2007, we captured 280 small mammals belonging to 12 species, identified by morphological and genetic analysis. We also provide detailed cytogenetic data for six of the 12 captured species. For five of them, we compare our data with previously published karyotypes, and for the sixth one (Hylomyscus pamfi), the karyotype is published here for the first time. Two of the captured species are closed-forest specialists (Praomys misonnei, H. pamfi), and H. pamfi is endemic to the Dahomey Gap region. Our results are congruent with those obtained on other animal groups, and highlight the importance of the Lama forest for the conservation of the country's forest biodiversity.