Anomaluromorpha is a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

that unites the

anomalure The Anomaluridae are a family of rodents found in central Africa. They are known as anomalures or scaly-tailed squirrels or African flying squirrels. The six extant species are classified into two genera. All anomalurids have membranes between ...

s, springhares, and zenkerella. It has alternately been designated as either a

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

infraorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between Family_(biology), family and Class_(biology), class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classific ...

. Most recently, recognized it as one of five suborders of rodents.

Characteristics

The suborder Anomaluromorpha was erected to unite sciurognathous rodents with a

hystricomorphous The zygomasseteric system (or zygomasseteric structure) refers to the anatomical arrangement of the masseter muscle and the zygomatic arch (cheek bone) in the skulls of rodents. This system plays a crucial role in the diverse chewing mechanics ...

zygomasseteric system The zygomasseteric system (or zygomasseteric structure) refers to the anatomical arrangement of the masseter muscle and the zygomatic arch (cheek bone) in the skulls of Rodent, rodents. This system plays a crucial role in the diverse chewing mechan ...

restricted to

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. Many authors have suggested that the two extant families may be only distantly related, and that they belong to separate suborders or infraorders. For example, the Pedetidae are the only family of rodents with multiserial enamel except for the

Hystricognathi The Hystricognathi are an infraorder of rodents, distinguished from other rodents by the bone structure of their skulls. The masseter medialis (a jaw muscle) passes partially through a hole below each eye socket (called the infraorbital foramen) ...

. This characteristic, the hystricomorphous zygomatic region, and a common distribution in southern continents has led many researchers to suggest that the springhares (but not anomalures) may be allied with hystricognaths. generated some support for Anomaluromorpha in a

molecular phylogeny Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

using 12S rRNA and

cytochrome b Cytochrome b is a protein found in the membranes of aerobic cells. In eukaryotic mitochondria (inner membrane) and in aerobic prokaryotes, cytochrome b is a component of respiratory chain complex III () — also known as the bc1 complex or ubiq ...

Families

The suborder Anomaluromorpha contains nine living species in four genera and three families. An additional

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

family probably belongs to this group. *† Parapedetidae *

Pedetidae The Pedetidae are a family (biology), family of rodents. The two living species, the springhares, are distributed throughout much of Southern Africa and also around Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Fossils have been found as far north as Turkey.McKen ...

- springhares * Anomaluridae - scaly-tailed flying squirrels, flying mice * Zenkerellidae - zenkerella or Cameroon scaly-tail

Potential relatives

The following fossil taxa are also sometimes placed in the Anomaluromorpha: *†'' Diatomys'' *† Zegdoumyidae

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1066173 Rodent taxonomy Mammal suborders Extant Eocene first appearances