Pedetidae Temporal range: Early Miocene to Recent [1] | |
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Springhare (Pedetes sp.) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Suborder: | Anomaluromorpha |
Family: | Pedetidae Gray, 1825 [2] [3] |
Genera | |
See text |
The Pedetidae are a family of rodents. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] The two living species, the springhares, are distributed throughout much of Southern Africa and also around Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. [10] Fossils have been found as far north as Turkey. [11] Together with the anomalures and zenkerella, Pedetidae forms the suborder Anomaluromorpha. The fossil genus Parapedetes is also related. [11]
The family includes one living genus and four extinct genera. The Asian fossil Diatomys was previously included, [11] but is now classified in the family Diatomyidae with the Laotian rock rat.