Dendromurinae is a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

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 ...

s in the family

Nesomyidae The Nesomyidae are a family (biology), family of African rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes several subfamilies, all of which are native to either continental Africa or to Madagascar. Included in this family are N ...

and superfamily

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 ...

. The dendromurines are currently restricted to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, as is the case for all

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

members of the family

. The authorship of the subfamily has been attributed to both Alston, 1876, and (incorrectly) to G. M. Allen, 1939. Two

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, ''

Dendromus Mice in the genus ''Dendromus'' are commonly referred to as African climbing mice or tree mice, although these terms are often used to describe all members of the subfamily Dendromurinae. The genus is currently restricted to sub-Saharan Africa, ...

'' and '' Steatomys'', are relatively common throughout most of sub-Saharan

. The remaining genera are relatively rare and have restricted geographic distributions. The link rat, '' Deomys ferugineus'', has been traditionally placed in this subfamily, but

molecular phylogenetic 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 ...

studies have shown that it is more related to the spiny mice, genus '' Acomys''. The link rat is now placed in the family

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. ...

and subfamily Deomyinae. Only two of the currently recognized dendromurine genera, ''

'' and '' Steatomys'', have been studied in molecular analyses. Considering how distinct these genera are from one another, the placement of all other dendromurine genera should be considered tentative pending closer examination. Another rare genus of "dendromurines", '' Leimacomys'', has recently been placed in a new subfamily (Leimacomyinae) in the family

(Musser and Carleton, 2005).

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 ...

s attributed to the Dendromurinae are known from

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

as early as 15 million years ago. It has been thought that dendromurines invaded Africa from there and became extinct in Asia due to competition with other muroids. The same may be holding true at present in Africa as the dendromurines have declined there since the invasion of murines and other muroids. The subfamily Dendromurinae contains 6 genera and 25 species.

Classification

Subfamily Dendromurinae - Climbing mice *Genus ''

'' - Climbing mice ** Remarkable climbing mouse, ''Dendromus insignis'' ** Mount Kahuzi climbing mouse, ''Dendromus kahuziensis'' ** Monard's African climbing mouse, ''Dendromus leucostomus'' ** Lovat's climbing mouse, ''Dendromus lovati'' ** Gray climbing mouse, ''Dendromus melanotis'' **

Brants's climbing mouse Brants's climbing mouse (''Dendromus mesomelas'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is found in Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habi ...

, ''Dendromus mesomelas'' ** Banana climbing mouse, ''Dendromus messorius'' ** Chestnut climbing mouse, ''Dendromus mystacalis'' ** Kivu climbing mouse, ''Dendromus nyasae (kivu)'' ** Nyika climbing mouse, ''Dendromus nyikae'' ** Cameroon climbing mouse, ''Dendromus oreas'' **'' Dendromus ruppi'' ** Vernay's climbing mouse, ''Dendromus vernayi'' *Genus '' Megadendromus'' ** Nikolaus's mouse, ''Megadendromus nikolausi'' *Genus '' Dendroprionomys'' ** Velvet climbing mouse, ''Dendroprionomys rousseloti'' *Genus '' Prionomys'' ** Dollman's climbing mouse, ''Prionomys batesi'' *Genus '' Malacothrix'' ** Gerbil mouse, ''Malacothrix typica'' *Genus '' Steatomys'' - Fat mice ** Bocage's African fat mouse, ''Steatomys bocagei'' ** Northwestern fat mouse, ''Steatomys caurinus'' ** Dainty fat mouse, ''Steatomys cuppedius'' ** Jackson's fat mouse, ''Steatomys jacksoni'' ** Kreb's fat mouse, ''Steatomys krebsii'' ** Pousargues's African fat mouse, ''Steatomys opimus'' ** Tiny fat mouse, ''Steatomys parvus'' ** Fat mouse, ''Steatomys pratensis''

References

*Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon Field Guide to

Mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s. Academic Press Limited, London. * *Steppan, S. J., R. A. Adkins, and J. Anderson. 2004.

Phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

and divergence date estimates of rapid radiations in muroid

s based on multiple nuclear

genes In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

. Systematic Biology, 53:533-553. {{Taxonbar, from=Q222439 Nesomyid rodents Mammal subfamilies