Hylaeamys laticeps, also known as the Atlantic Forest Oryzomys or Large-headed Rice Rat, is a species of rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

 in the genus Hylaeamys

Hylaeamys

Hylaeamys is a genus of South American oryzomyine rodents found principally in humid forested areas east of the Andes. The species in this genus have historically been placed in Oryzomys. They are most closely related to Euryoryzomys, Transandinomys, Nephelomys, Oecomys, and Handleyomys, and most...

of family Cricetidae

Cricetidae

The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, and New World rats and mice...

. It occurs in the Atlantic Forest region of southeastern Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Its taxonomic

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 history has been complex, and the name laticeps has been used for various members of the genera Cerradomys

Cerradomys

Cerradomys is a genus of oryzomyine rodents from eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and central Brazil found in cerrado, Caatinga and Gran Chaco habitats. The species in this genus have historically been placed in Oryzomys, but according to cladistic research, they are not more closely related to the type...

, Euryoryzomys

Euryoryzomys

Euryoryzomys is a genus of rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It includes six species, which are distributed in South America. Until 2006, its members were included in the genus Oryzomys, but they are not closely related to the type species of that genus, and therefore they were...

, Transandinomys

Transandinomys

Transandinomys is a genus of rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It includes two species—T. bolivaris and T. talamancae—found in forests from Honduras in Central America south and east to southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Venezuela in northern South America...

and Hylaeamys

Hylaeamys

Hylaeamys is a genus of South American oryzomyine rodents found principally in humid forested areas east of the Andes. The species in this genus have historically been placed in Oryzomys. They are most closely related to Euryoryzomys, Transandinomys, Nephelomys, Oecomys, and Handleyomys, and most...

at different times. Until 2006, it was classified in the genus Oryzomys

Oryzomys

Oryzomys is a genus of semiaquatic rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini living in southern North America and far northern South America. It includes eight species, two of which—the marsh rice rat of the United States and O. couesi of Mexico and Central America—are widespread; the six others have...

as Oryzomys laticeps. The species Oryzomys seuanezi is now a junior synonym of H. laticeps.

Literature cited

• Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. | issn = 0003-0082| doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2006)3537[1:TNGOOR]2.0.CO;2}}