Original Research

Molerats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia) in South African National Parks: notes on the Taxonomic "isolation" and Hystricomorph Affinities of the family

G de Graaff
Koedoe | Vol 22, No 1 | a653 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v22i1.653 | © 1979 G de Graaff | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 02 December 1979 | Published: 02 December 1979

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G de Graaff, National Parks Board, South Africa

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Abstract

The history of classification ofAfrotropical molerats is reviewed and an assessment is made of the supposed taxonomic "isolation" of the molerats (bathyergids) by considering morphological features in the skull, post-cranial skeleton, reproductive organs and myology which collectively point to hystricomorph affinities in contrast to a myomorph relationship which is often postulated.

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