Muroidea

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Muroidea
Temporal range: Middle Eocene – recent
Feldmaus Microtus arvalis.jpg
Common vole ( Microtus arvalis )
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Myomorpha
Superfamily: Muroidea
Illiger, 1811
Families

Platacanthomyidae
Spalacidae
Calomyscidae
Nesomyidae
Cricetidae
Muridae

Contents

sister: Dipodoidea

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, [1] 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. [2] A possible explanation for the variations in rodents is because of the location of these rodents; these changes could have been due to radiation [3] or the overall environment they migrated to or originated [4] in. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies. [5]

The muroids are classified in six families, 19 subfamilies, around 280 genera, and at least 1,750 species.

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

5 main clades are recognized by Jansa & Weksler (2004). [6]

Together, Muroidea and its sister group Dipodoidea form the suborder Myomorpha.

The following phylogeny of more than 70 Muroidea genera, based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Interphotoreceptor Retinoid Binding Protein (IRBP) gene, is from Jansa & Weksler (2004: 264). [6] Although Platacanthomyidae was not analyzed by Jansa & Weksler (2004), a study by Fabre et al. 2012 [7] suggests that it is the most basal lineage of Muroidea.

Muroidea 

Platacanthomyidae [7]

Spalacidae  
Eumuroida  
Calomyscidae  

Calomyscus

Cricetidae  

Related Research Articles

<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">Mouse-like hamster</span> Genus of rodents

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.

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

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 either the largest or second-largest family of mammals, and has members throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.

<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">Malabar spiny dormouse</span> Species of rodent

The Malabar spiny dormouse is a species of muroid rodent endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is the only extant species in the genus Platacanthomys and although resembling a dormouse, it is not closely related. About the size of a brown rat, this arboreal species lives in tree holes in dense forest habitats in a small family group. They are distinguishable from other species in the area by their bushy tuft tip to the tail and the spiny fur on the back.

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.

<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.

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

Oryzomyini is a tribe of rodents in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the family Cricetidae. It includes about 120 species in about thirty genera, distributed from the eastern United States to the southernmost parts of South America, including many offshore islands. It is part of the clade Oryzomyalia, which includes most of the South American Sigmodontinae.

References

  1. D'elía, G.; González, E.M.; Pardiñas, U.F.J. (2003). "Phylogenetic analysis of sigmodontine rodents (Muroidea), with special reference to the akodont genus Deltamys". Mammalian Biology. 68 (6): 351–364. doi:10.1078/1616-5047-00104. hdl: 11336/102889 .
  2. Alhajeri, Bader H.; Steppan, Scott J. (September 2018). "Disparity and Evolutionary Rate Do Not Explain Diversity Patterns in Muroid Rodents (Rodentia: Muroidea)". Evolutionary Biology. 45 (3): 324–344. Bibcode:2018EvBio..45..324A. doi:10.1007/s11692-018-9453-z. ISSN   0071-3260. S2CID   255342087.
  3. Jansa, Sharon A.; Giarla, Thomas C.; Lim, Burton K. (2009-10-15). "The Phylogenetic Position of the Rodent Genus Typhlomys and the Geographic Origin of Muroidea". Journal of Mammalogy. 90 (5): 1083–1094. doi: 10.1644/08-MAMM-A-318.1 . ISSN   0022-2372.
  4. Jansa, Sharon A.; Giarla, Thomas C.; Lim, Burton K. (2009-10-15). "The Phylogenetic Position of the Rodent Genus Typhlomys and the Geographic Origin of Muroidea". Journal of Mammalogy. 90 (5): 1083–1094. doi: 10.1644/08-MAMM-A-318.1 . ISSN   0022-2372.
  5. Steppan, S.; Adkins, R.; Anderson, J. (2004). "Phylogeny and Divergence-Date Estimates of Rapid Radiations in Muroid Rodents Based on Multiple Nuclear Genes". Systematic Biology. 53 (4): 533–553. doi:10.1080/10635150490468701. PMID   15371245.
  6. 1 2 Jansa, S.A.; Weksler, M. (2004). "Phylogeny of muroid rodents: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP gene sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 31 (1): 256–276. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.002. PMID   15019624.
  7. 1 2 Fabre; et al. (2012). "A glimpse on the pattern of rodent diversification: a phylogenetic approach". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 12 (1): 88. Bibcode:2012BMCEE..12...88F. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-88 . PMC   3532383 . PMID   22697210.