The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, 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. Many of the families within the Muroidea superfamily have more variations between the families than between the different clades. A possible explanation for the variations in rodents is because of the location of these rodents; these changes could have been due to radiation or the overall environment they migrated to or originated in. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies.
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is the either the largest or second-largest family of mammals, and has members throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
The Arvicolinae are a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. They are most closely related to the other subfamilies in the Cricetidae. Some authorities place the subfamily Arvicolinae in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea. Some refer to the subfamily as the Microtinae or rank the taxon as a full family, the Arvicolidae.
The eastern meadow vole, sometimes called the field mouse or meadow mouse, is a North American vole found in eastern Canada and the United States. Its range extends farther south along the Atlantic coast.
The taiga vole is a large vole found in northwestern North America, including Alaska and northwestern Canada. The name "taiga vole" comes from its living in the boreal taiga zone. It is also sometimes called the yellow-cheeked vole or chestnut-cheeked vole because of the rusty-yellow color on its face around its vibrisae (whiskers); The taiga voles derive their name from these features: "xantho" is Greek for yellow and "gnathus" is Greek for jaw. It is typically much larger than most other North American voles, especially those from the genus Microtus.
The western heather vole is a small vole found in western North America. Until recently, the eastern heather vole,, was considered to be a subspecies. They have short ears with stiff orange hair inside and a short thin tail which is paler underneath. Their long soft fur is brownish with silver grey underparts. They are roughly 14 cm (5.5 in) long with a tail length shorter than one-half their body length, approximately 50 mm (2.0 in). They weigh about 40 g (1.4 oz).
The eastern heather vole,, is a small North American vole. Until recently, this species was considered to belong to the same species as the western heather vole, Phenacomys intermedius. It is also called the Ungava vole.
The cursor grass mouse, or cursorial akodont, is a sigmodontine rodent from South America.
Euryoryzomys russatus, also known as the russet oryzomys, russet rice rat, or big-headed rice rat, is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is a member of the genus Euryoryzomys, which was split off from Oryzomys in 2006. It was first described by Johann Andreas Wagner in 1848. It is found in southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. It is considered a large species in its genus, with a reddish-brown coat, long tail length, and large skull. It is a terrestrial rodent, spending its time foraging for seeds, fruits, and insects. It is listed by the IUCN as least concern, although studies have shown it to be influenced by anthropogenic disturbances. Predators consist of small members of the order Carnivora.
Oligoryzomys is a genus of rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. Many species are known as pygmy rice rats or colilargos. The genus is found from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and includes approximately 17 species.
Abrothrix olivacea, also known as the olive grass mouse or olive akodont, is a species of rodent in the genus Abrothrix of family Cricetidae. It is found from northern Chile into southern Chile and Argentina, including the islands of Tierra del Fuego. It is prone to large swings in population size.
The silver mountain vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. They are distinguished by their silver-grey pelage, long vibrissae, rootless hypsodont molars and angular skull shape. Like many mammals of the Eurasian Steppe eco-region, they are well adapted to life in high altitudes, and can be found in mountain areas of Central Asia from Saur Mountains in the north-east to Kugitang Range in the west, and to Tibet and the Himalayas in the south.
The red tree vole is a rodent of the Pacific Northwest, found in the US states of Oregon and California. They were formerly known as Phenacomys longicaudus and have also been called the red tree mouse.
The European snow vole or snow vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It has dense, pale grey fur and a pale-coloured tail and can reach about 14 cm (5.5 in) long, with a tail which is 7 cm (2.8 in) long.
The rusty-bellied brush-furred rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, arable land, and pastureland.
The narrow-headed vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It was previously placed in the genus Microtus, but modern listings either lump this into genus Lasiopodomys or split it out into Stenocranius. It ranges over northern and central Asia.
The Jalapan pine vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae, found only in Mexico. The scientific name quasiater translates as "almost black", while the common name refers to the city of Jalapa, close to where the first specimen was collected.
There are at least 50 small mammal species known to occur in Yellowstone National Park.
Phenacomyini is a tribe of voles in the subfamily Arvicolinae. It contains five species in two genera, all of which are found in North America.
