Mesomys

Mesomys
Ferreira's spiny tree-rat
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Echimyidae
Subfamily:	Echimyinae
Tribe:	Echimyini
Genus:	Mesomys Wagner, 1845
Type species
Mesomys ecaudatus Wagner, 1845 (= Echimys hispidus Desmarest, 1817)
Species
Mesomys hispidus Mesomys leniceps Mesomys occultus Mesomys stimulax

Mesomys is a genus of South American spiny rats in the family Echimyidae. ^[1]

The genus name Mesomys derives from the two ancient greek words μέσος (mésos), meaning "middle of, between", and μῦς (mûs), meaning "mouse, rat". ^{[2] [3]} It refers to the fact that these rodents — literally the "middle mouse" — were considered an intermediate form between the genus Loncheres and the genus Echinomys, both of which are now known to be synonyms of Echimys . ^{[4] [5]}

Extant species

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Mesomys hispidus	Ferreira's spiny tree-rat	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela
	Mesomys leniceps	Woolly-headed spiny tree-rat	Peru
	Mesomys occultus	Tufted-tailed spiny tree-rat	Brazil
	Mesomys stimulax	Pará spiny tree-rat	Brazil.

Phylogeny

Mesomys is a member of the Echimyini clade of arboreal Echimyidae rodents. ^[6] The closest relative of Mesomys is Lonchothrix, reflecting the fact that these taxa have once been classified in the Eumysopinae, ^[1] a subfamily now recognized as an artificial assemblage. ^[7] These two genera share phylogenetic affinities with several taxa and clades: (i) Echimys, Phyllomys, Makalata, Pattonomys, and Toromys ; (ii) the bamboo rats Dactylomys, Olallamys, Kannabateomys together with Diplomys and Santamartamys ; and (iii) Isothrix. ^[8]

Genus-level cladogram of the Echimyini.

Echimyini               Isothrix   "Eumysopines"     Lonchothrix   (Tuft-tailed spiny tree-rat)   Mesomys                                           Pattonomys   Toromys   (Giant tree-rat)             Makalata   Echimys   Phyllomys   Diplomys   Santamartamys   (Red-crested tree-rat)   "Dactylomyines"     Kannabateomys   (Atlantic bamboo rat)             Dactylomys   Olallamys

The cladogram has been reconstructed from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA characters. [9] [10] [11] [12] [7] [13] [14] [15] [6] [8]

References

1. Woods, C.A.; Kilpatrick, C.W. (2005). "Genus Mesomys". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1583–1584. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
2. Bailly, Anatole (1981-01-01). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN   978-2-01-003528-9. OCLC   461974285.
3. Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-french dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
4. Wagner, Johann Andreas (1845). "Diagnosen einiger neuen Arten von Nagern und Handflüglern". Archiv für Naturgeschichte. 11 (1): 145.
5. Palmer, T. S. (1904). Details - Index generum mammalium: a list of the genera and families of mammals. - Biodiversity Heritage Library. Washington, Govt. Print. Off. p. 415. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.39809.
6. Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Patton, James L.; Leite, Yuri L. R. (2016). "Family Echimyidae (hutias, South American spiny-rats and coypu)". In Wilson, Don E.; Lacher, Thomas E. Jr; Mittermeier, Russell A. (eds.). Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol 6. Lagomorphs and Rodents I. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 552–641. ISBN   978-84-941892-3-4.
7. Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Galewski, Thomas; Tilak, Marie-ka; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (2013-03-01). "Diversification of South American spiny rats (Echimyidae): a multigene phylogenetic approach". Zoologica Scripta. 42 (2): 117–134. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00572.x. ISSN   1463-6409.
8. Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Upham, Nathan S.; Emmons, Louise H.; Justy, Fabienne; Leite, Yuri L. R.; Loss, Ana Carolina; Orlando, Ludovic; Tilak, Marie-Ka; Patterson, Bruce D.; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (2017-03-01). "Mitogenomic Phylogeny, Diversification, and Biogeography of South American Spiny Rats". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34 (3): 613–633. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msw261 . ISSN   0737-4038. PMID   28025278.
9. Lara, Márcia C.; Patton, James L.; da Silva, Maria Nazareth F. (1996). "The Simultaneous Diversification of South American Echimyid Rodents (Hystricognathi) Based on Complete Cytochrome b Sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 5 (2): 403–413. Bibcode:1996MolPE...5..403L. doi:10.1006/mpev.1996.0035. PMID   8728398.
10. Leite, Yuri L. R.; Patton, James L. (2002). "Evolution of South American spiny rats (Rodentia, Echimyidae): the star-phylogeny hypothesis revisited". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 25 (3): 455–464. Bibcode:2002MolPE..25..455L. doi:10.1016/s1055-7903(02)00279-8. PMID   12450750.
11. Galewski, Thomas; Mauffrey, Jean-François; Leite, Yuri L. R.; Patton, James L.; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (2005). "Ecomorphological diversification among South American spiny rats (Rodentia; Echimyidae): a phylogenetic and chronological approach". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 34 (3): 601–615. Bibcode:2005MolPE..34..601G. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.015. PMID   15683932.
12. Upham, Nathan S.; Patterson, Bruce D. (2012). "Diversification and biogeography of the Neotropical caviomorph lineage Octodontoidea (Rodentia: Hystricognathi)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 63 (2): 417–429. Bibcode:2012MolPE..63..417U. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.01.020. PMID   22327013.
13. Loss, Ana; Moura, Raquel T.; Leite, Yuri L. R. (2014). "Unexpected phylogenetic relationships of the painted tree rat Callistomys pictus (Rodentia: Echimyidae)" (PDF). Natureza on Line. 12: 132–136.
14. Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Vilstrup, Julia T.; Raghavan, Maanasa; Der Sarkissian, Clio; Willerslev, Eske; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P.; Orlando, Ludovic (2014-07-01). "Rodents of the Caribbean: origin and diversification of hutias unravelled by next-generation museomics". Biology Letters. 10 (7) 20140266. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0266. ISSN   1744-9561. PMC   4126619 . PMID   25115033.
15. Upham, Nathan S.; Patterson, Bruce D. (2015). "Evolution of Caviomorph rodents: a complete phylogeny and timetree for living genera". In Vassallo, Aldo Ivan; Antenucci, Daniel (eds.). Biology of caviomorph rodents: diversity and evolution. Buenos Aires: SAREM Series A, Mammalogical Research — Sociedad Argentina para el Estudio de los Mamíferos. pp. 63–120.