Mouse-like hamster

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Mouse-like hamster
Temporal range: Late Miocene–Recent
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Superfamily: Muroidea
Family: Calomyscidae
Vorontsov & Potapova, 1979
Genus: Calomyscus
Thomas, 1905
Type species
Calomyscus bailwardi
Thomas, 1905
Species

Calomyscus bailwardi
Calomyscus baluchi
Calomyscus behzadi
Calomyscus elburzensis
Calomyscus grandis
Calomyscus hotsoni
Calomyscus kermanensis Calomyscus mystax
Calomyscus tsolovi
Calomyscus urartensis

Contents

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Mouse-like hamster using its tail for balance while standing on a branch (a feat difficult for hamsters) Calo13.jpg
Mouse-like hamster using its tail for balance while standing on a branch (a feat difficult for hamsters)

Mouse-like hamsters, also called brush-tailed mice, are a group of small rodents found in Syria, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. They are found in rocky outcrops and semi-mountainous areas in desert regions.

The mouse-like hamsters are not true hamsters, but represent an early split from the rest of the mouse-like rodents. They were once thought to be hamsters based on the shape of their molars, but they lack the cheek pouches, flank glands and short tails of the true hamsters. The closest relatives of the mouse-like hamsters may be the extinct Cricetodontidae. Because of their seemingly early break from the rest of the mouse-like rodents, mouse-like hamsters have been placed in a family of their own, Calomyscidae, and have been referred to as living fossils.

All members of the genus were once considered part of the same species, Calomyscus bailwardi , but they are now considered separate species due to major differences in chromosome number, skull measurements, and other features. [1]

In Europe, a species of Calomyscus is available as a pet. They are labelled Calomyscus bailwardi mystax or Calomyscus bailwardi. They are generally only available from dedicated breeders, not pet shops.

Species

Family Calomyscidae

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muroidea</span> Superfamily of rodents

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zokor</span> Subfamily of rodents

Zokors are Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling mole-rats. They include two genera: Myospalax and Eospalax. Zokors are native to much of China, Kazakhstan, and Siberian Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muridae</span> Family of rodents

The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesomyidae</span> Family of rodents

The Nesomyidae are a family of African rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes several subfamilies, all of which are native to either continental Africa or to Madagascar. Included in this family are Malagasy rodents, climbing mice, African rock mice, swamp mice, pouched rats, and the white-tailed rat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spalacidae</span> Family of rodents

The Spalacidae, or spalacids, are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. They are native to eastern Asia, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and southeastern Europe. It includes the blind mole-rats, bamboo rats, mole-rats, and zokors. This family represents the oldest split in the muroid superfamily, and comprises animals adapted to a subterranean way of life. These rodents were thought to have evolved adaptations to living underground independently until recent genetic studies demonstrated they form a monophyletic group. Members of the Spalacidae are often placed in the family Muridae along with all other members of the Muroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platacanthomyidae</span> Family of rodents

The rodent family Platacanthomyidae, or Oriental dormice, includes the spiny dormice and the Chinese pygmy dormice. In spite of their appearance, these animals are not true dormice, but are part of the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. The platacanthomyids can be distinguished from the true dormice, because they have no premolars, giving them three cheek teeth, like their relatives, the Muroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesomyidae</span> Family of rodents

The Nesomyidae are a family of African rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes several subfamilies, all of which are native to either continental Africa or to Madagascar. Included in this family are Malagasy rodents, climbing mice, African rock mice, swamp mice, pouched rats, and the white-tailed rat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eumuroida</span> Clade of rodents

The Eumuroida are a clade defined in 2004 by Steppan et al. to describe a group of muroid rodents. The clade is not defined in the standard taxonomic hierarchy, but it is between superfamily and family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pouched rat</span> Subfamily of rodents

Pouched rats are a group of African rodents in the subfamily Cricetomyinae. They are members of the family Nesomyidae, which contains other African muroids such as climbing mice, Malagasy mice, and the white-tailed rat. All nesomyids are in the superfamily Muroidea, a large and complex clade containing 14 of all mammal species. Sometimes the pouched rats are placed in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dendromurinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

Dendromurinae is a subfamily of rodents in the family Nesomyidae and superfamily Muroidea. The dendromurines are currently restricted to Africa, as is the case for all extant members of the family Nesomyidae. The authorship of the subfamily has been attributed to both Alston, 1876, and (incorrectly) to G. M. Allen, 1939.

<i>Spalax</i> Genus of rodents

Spalax is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae, subfamily Spalacinae. It is one of two extant genera in the subfamily Spalacinae, alongside Nannospalax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesomyinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

The Malagasy rodents are the sole members of the subfamily Nesomyinae. These animals are the only native rodents of Madagascar, come in many shapes and sizes, and occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. There are nesomyines that resemble gerbils, rats, mice, voles, and even rabbits. There are arboreal, terrestrial, and semi-fossorial varieties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families except the Cricetidae and Muridae, and is larger than all mammal orders except the bats and the remainder of the rodents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deomyinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

The subfamily Deomyinae consists of four genera of mouse-like rodents that were previously placed in the subfamilies Murinae and Dendromurinae. They are sometimes called the Acomyinae, particularly in references that antedate the discovery that the link rat, Deomys ferugineus, is part of the clade. Deomyinae is the older name and therefore has priority over Acomyinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New World rats and mice</span> Rodents native to the Americas

The New World rats and mice are a group of related rodents found in North and South America. They are extremely diverse in appearance and ecology, ranging from the tiny Baiomys to the large Kunsia. They represent one of the few examples of muroid rodents in North America, and the only example of muroid rodents to have made it into South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zagros Mountains mouse-like hamster</span> Species of rodent

The Zagros Mountains mouse-like hamster is a relatively little-known rodent which was the first species of mouse-like hamster to be described. The species is distributed throughout much of southern Iran, particularly in the Zagros mountains. It is also known as the Iranian mouse-like hamster, though there are several species of mouse-like hamster found in different parts of Iran.

Petromyscus is a genus of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is so distinct from other rodents that it is placed as the only genus in subfamily Petromyscinae. In previous classifications, Delanymys brooksi has also been placed in the subfamily. They are found in southwestern Africa. These animals have a sharp lower point to their V-shaped infraorbital canal. Their molars are intermediate between the ancestral cricetid style tooth and the dendromurine style tooth.

Hotson's mouse-like hamster also known as Hotson's calomyscus or Hotson's brush-tailed mouse is a species of rodent in the family Calomyscidae. It is endemic to southwestern Pakistan and southeastern Iran.

The Great Balkhan mouse-like hamster is a species of rodent in the family Calomyscidae. It is found in southwestern Turkmenistan, northern Iran and southern Azerbaijan. It was first discovered by the famed Soviet zoologist and ecologist, Daniil Nikolaevich Kashkarov (1878–1941) in 1925. It is named after the Great Balkhan mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otomyini</span> Tribe of rodents

Otomyini is an Old World tribe of muroid rodents in the subfamily Murinae. Musser and Carleton (2005) granted it subfamily status (Otomyinae), but molecular studies consistently show that the otomyines evolved from within the Murinae, leading these researchers to subsume it in this subfamily, sometimes with tribal status. It includes 3 genera.

References

  1. 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.