Pouched rats are a group of

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

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 lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

s in the subfamily Cricetomyinae. They are members of the family

Nesomyidae The Nesomyidae are a 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 Malagasy rodents, ...

, which contains other African muroids such as climbing mice, Malagasy mice, and the

white-tailed rat The white-tailed rat (''Mystromys albicaudatus'') also known as the white-tailed mouse, is the only member of the subfamily Mystromyinae in the family Nesomyidae. This species is sometimes placed in the subfamily Cricetinae due to similarities ...

. All nesomyids are in the superfamily Muroidea, a large and complex clade containing of all mammal

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

. Sometimes the pouched rats are placed in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea. Pouched rats are found throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa with the exception of southern Africa. They are characterized by having large cheek pouches and a distinctive molar morphology. The molars are very similar to the type seen in the subfamily

Murinae The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families ex ...

, but pouched rats probably evolved this similarity through

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

. There are three very different

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

of pouched rats. The giant pouched rat is notable for being the largest of the muroids. A giant pouched rat was also implicated as a carrier in a small outbreak of monkeypox in the US. The three genera of Cricetomyinaeds contain eight species.

Classification

Subfamily Cricetomyinae - pouched rats *Genus '' Beamys'' ** Lesser hamster-rat, ''Beamys hindei'' ** Greater hamster-rat, ''Beamys major'' *Genus '' Cricetomys'' - giant pouched rats ** Southern giant pouched rat, ''Cricetomys ansorgei'' ** Gambian pouched rat, ''Cricetomys gambianus'' **

Emin's pouched rat Emin's pouched rat ''(Cricetomys emini)'', also known as the African pouched rat, is a large rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found ...

, ''Cricetomys emini'' ** Kivu giant pouched rat, ''Cricetomys kivuensis'' *Genus '' Saccostomus'' - pouched mice **

South African pouched mouse The South African pouched mouse or southern African pouched mouse (''Saccostomus campestris'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae, which is viewed as actually representing a complex of at least three undescribed species. It is found ...

, ''Saccostomus campestris'' **

Mearns's pouched mouse Mearns's pouched mouse (''Saccostomus mearnsi'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, hot deser ...

, ''Saccostomus mearnsi

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pouched Rat Nesomyid rodents