Vesper mice are rodents belonging to a genus ''Calomys''. They are widely distributed in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. Some species are notable as the

vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

s of

Argentinian hemorrhagic fever Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF) or O'Higgins disease, also known in Argentina as ''mal de los rastrojos'' (stubble disease) is a hemorrhagic fever and zoonotic infectious disease occurring in Argentina. It is caused by the ''Junín virus'' (an ar ...

and

Bolivian hemorrhagic fever Bolivian hemorrhagic fever (BHF), also known as black typhus or Ordog Fever, is a hemorrhagic fever and zoonotic infectious disease originating in Bolivia after infection by ''Machupo mammarenavirus''.Public Health Agency of Canada: ''Machupo Vir ...

. The genus was originally named ''Hesperomys'', but was changed to ''Calomys'' since 1962.

History

''Hesperomys'' was introduced by

George Robert Waterhouse George Robert Waterhouse (6 March 1810 – 21 January 1888) was an English naturalist. He was a keeper at the department of geology and later curator of the Zoological Society of London's museum. Early life George was born in Somers Town t ...

in 1839 for the American rodents with cusps arranged in two series. The name combines the Greek ἑσπερος "west" and μυς "mouse". He considered it possible that species of ''Hesperomys'' would be found in the Old World, but did not doubt that the Americas were their chief abode. He included as species ''Mus bimaculatus'' (='' Calomys laucha''), ''Mus griseo-flavus'' (='' Graomys griseoflavus''), ''Mus Darwinii'' (='' Phyllotis darwini''), ''Mus zanthopygus'' (='' Phyllotis xanthopygus''), ''Mus galapagoensis'' (='' Aegialomys galapagoensis''), ''Symidon hispidum'' (='' Sigmodon hispidus''), ''Mus leucopus'' (='' Peromyscus leucopus''), and the

woodrat A pack rat or packrat, also called a woodrat or trade rat, are any species in the North and Central American rodent genus ''Neotoma''. Pack rats have a rat-like appearance, with long tails, large ears, and large, black eyes. Pack rats are notice ...

s (''Neotoma'').; current nomenclature: ; In following years, authors like

Johann Andreas Wagner Johann Andreas Wagner (21 March 1797 – 17 December 1861) was a German palaeontologist, zoologist and archaeologist who wrote several important works on palaeontology. Career Wagner was a professor at the University of Munich, and curato ...

and

Spencer Fullerton Baird Spencer Fullerton Baird (; February 3, 1823 – August 19, 1887) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist, and museum curator. Baird was the first curator to be named at the Smithsonian Institution. He eventually ...

expanded the genus to include additional American species, such as those placed now in ''

Scapteromys ''Scapteromys'' is a genus of South American rodents in the tribe Akodontini of family Cricetidae. Three species are known, found in northern Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. They are as follows: * Argentine swamp rat (''Scapter ...

'', ''

Oxymycterus ''Oxymycterus'' is a genus of rat-like rodents commonly known as hocicudos. They are endemic to South America. , the genus contains the following 16 species: * ''O. akodontius'' Argentine hocicudo * ''O. amazonicus'' Amazon hocicudo * ''O. ang ...

'', ''

Abrothrix ''Abrothrix'' is a genus of rodent in the tribe Abrotrichini of family Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World ...

'', and ''

Peromyscus ''Peromyscus'' is a genus of rodents. They are commonly referred to as deer mice or deermice, not to be confused with the chevrotain or "mouse deer". They are New World mice only distantly related to the common house and laboratory mouse, ''Mu ...

''. In 1874,

Elliott Coues Elliott Ladd Coues (; September 9, 1842 – December 25, 1899) was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author. He led surveys of the Arizona Territory, and later as secretary of the United States Geological and Geograph ...

designated ''Mus bimaculatus'' Waterhouse as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

of ''Hesperomys''. In 1888,

Herluf Winge Adolf Herluf Winge (19 March 1857 – 10 November 1923) was a Danish zoologist. Biography As a young student, along with his brother Oluf, Winge was interested in small mammals, particularly moles, shrews and insectivora. He studied mammalia ...

used ''Hesperomys'' in a sense similar to modern ''Calomys'' (but confusingly placed species related to what is now known as ''Oryzomys'' in ''Calomys''), but in the same year Oldfield Thomas argued that ''Hesperomys'' could not be separated from the

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The ...

s (''Cricetus''). In 1896, however, he united it with '' Eligmodontia'' instead, where it remained until he reinstated it for modern ''Calomys'' in 1916. He did not use ''Calomys'' (introduced by Waterhouse in 1837 for ''Mus bimaculatus''), because he thought it to be

preoccupied The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...

by an earlier name ''Callomys'' d'Orbigny and Geoffroy, 1830. In 1962,

Philip Hershkovitz Philip Hershkovitz (12 October 1909 – 15 February 1997) was an American mammalogist. Born in Pittsburgh, he attended the Universities of Pittsburgh and Michigan and lived in South America collecting mammals. In 1947, he was appointed a curator ...

noted that the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the Int ...

mandates that a name cannot be considered preoccupied even when it differs by only one letter from another, so ''Callomys'' cannot invalidate ''Calomys''. As ''Calomys'' Waterhouse, 1837, and ''Hesperomys'' Waterhouse, 1839, both had ''Mus bimaculatus'' as their type species, the two are

objective synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

s and the older name, ''Calomys'', prevails; since then, ''Hesperomys'' has no longer been in use as a valid name.

History

References

Further reading