Muroidea
From Academic Kids
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Muroidea is a large superfamily of rodents. It includes hamsters, gerbils, true mice and rats, and many other relatives. They occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to difficulties in determining how the subfamilies are related to one another. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies.
The muroids are classified in 6 families, 19 subfamilies, around 280 genera and at least 1300 species.
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Taxonomy
- Family Platacanthomyidae incertae sedis
- Subfamily Platacanthomyinae (spiny dormouse and pygmy dormice)
- Family Spalacidae fossorial muroids
- Subfamily Myospalacinae (zokors)
- Subfamily Rhizomyinae (bamboo rats and root rats)
- Subfamily Spalacinae (blind mole rats)
- Clade Eumuroida - typical muroids
- Family Calomyscidae
- Subfamily Calomyscinae (mouse-like hamsters)
- Family Nesomyidae
- Subfamily Cricetomyinae (pouched rats and mice)
- Subfamily Dendromurinae (African climbing mice, gerbil mice, fat mice and forest mice)
- Subfamily Mystromyinae (white-tailed rat)
- Subfamily Nesomyinae (Malagasy rats and mice)
- Subfamily Petromyscinae (rock mice and the climbing swamp mouse)
- Family Cricetidae
- Subfamily Arvicolinae (voles, lemmings and muskrat)
- Subfamily Cricetinae (true hamsters)
- Subfamily Neotominae (North American rats and mice)
- Subfamily Sigmodontinae (New World rats and mice)
- Subfamily Tylomyinae
- Family Muridae
- Subfamily Deomyinae (spiny mice, brush furred mice, link rat)
- Subfamily Gerbillinae (gerbils, jirds and sand rats)
- Subfamily Lophiomyinae (crested rat)
- Subfamily Murinae (Old World rats and mice including vlei rats)
- Family Calomyscidae
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References
- Primary Taxonomic Reference
- Steppan, S. J., R. A. Adkins, and J. Anderson. 2004. Phylogeny and divergence date estimates of rapid radiations in muroid rodents based on multiple nuclear genes. Systematic Biology, 53:533-553.
- Other Taxonomic References
- Jansa, S. A. and M. Weksler. Phylogeny of muroid rodents: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31:256-276.
- Michaux, J., A. Reyes, and F. Catzeflis. 2001. Evolutionary history of the most speciose mammals: molecular phylogeny of muroid rodents. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 17:280-293.
- Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 1993. Family Muridae. Pp. 501-755 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
- Norris, R. W., K. Y. Zhou, C. Q. Zhou, G. Yang, C. W. Kilpatrick, and R. L. Honeycutt. 2004. The phylogenetic position of the zokors (Myospalacinae) and comments on the families of muroids (Rodentia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31:972-978.de:Langschwanzmäuse
