The Guaira spiny-rat (''Proechimys guairae'') is a species of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
in the family
Echimyidae
Echimyidae is the family of neotropical spiny rats and their fossil relatives. This is the most species-rich family of hystricognath rodents. It is probably also the most ecologically diverse, with members ranging from fully arboreal to terr ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. It is commonly referred to as 'casiragua' to avoid confusion with true rats (
Muroidea
The Muroidea are a large Taxonomic rank, superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, Gerbillinae, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitat ...
)
Phylogeny
Morphological characters and mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences showed that ''P. guairae'' belongs to the so-called ''trinitatus'' group of ''Proechimys'' species, and shares closer phylogenetic affinities with the other members of this clade: ''
P. trinitatus'', ''
P. mincae'', ''
P. poliopus'', ''
P. magdalenae'', ''
P. chrysaeolus'', ''
P. urichi'', and ''
P. hoplomyoides''.
References
Proechimys
Mammals of Venezuela
Endemic fauna of Venezuela
Mammals described in 1901
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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