Sigmodontomys
Encyclopedia
Sigmodontomys is a genus
of rodent
in the tribe Oryzomyini
of family Cricetidae
. It is related to Nectomys
and Melanomys
and was previously included in Nectomys. It includes two species, Sigmodontomys alfari and the much rarer Sigmodontomys aphrastus, but whether these are indeed each other's closest relatives is uncertain.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
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 tribe Oryzomyini
Oryzomyini
Oryzomyini is a tribe of rodents in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of 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...
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 is related to Nectomys
Nectomys
Nectomys is a genus of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. It is closely related to Amphinectomys and was formerly considered congeneric with Sigmodontomys...
and Melanomys
Melanomys
Melanomys is a genus of rodent in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae, which is distributed in northern South America and adjacent Central America. It contains three species, two of which—Melanomys robustulus and Melanomys zunigae—have limited distributions...
and was previously included in Nectomys. It includes two species, Sigmodontomys alfari and the much rarer Sigmodontomys aphrastus, but whether these are indeed each other's closest relatives is uncertain.
Literature cited
- Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
- Weksler, M. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships of oryzomyine rodents (Muroidea: Sigmodontinae): separate and combined analyses of morphological and molecular data. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 296:1–149.