Thryonomyidae is a family of

hystricognath 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 foram ...

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the 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 rodents. They are n ...

that contains the cane rats ''(Thryonomys)'' found throughout

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 ...

, and a number of fossil genera.

Taxonomy

Thryonomyidae was formerly more diverse and widespread, with fossil relatives found in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

as well. The extinct genus '' Sacaresia'' from the island of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

off

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

may also be a member of this family, though its position remains uncertain. *Genus †'' Epiphiomys'' **†''Epiphiomys coryndoni'' *Genus †'' Gaudeamus'' **†''Gaudeamus aegyptius'' *Genus †'' Kochalia'' **†''Kochalia geespei'' *Genus †'' Monamys'' **†''Monamys simonsi'' *Genus †'' Neosciuromys'' **†''Neosciuromys africanus'' *Genus †'' Paraphiomys'' **†''Paraphiomys afarensis'' **†''Paraphiomys hopwoodi'' **†''Paraphiomys knolli'' **†''Paraphiomys occidentalis'' **†''Paraphiomys orangeus'' **†''Paraphiomys pigotti'' **†''Paraphiomys renelavocati'' **†''Paraphiomys shipmani'' *Genus †'' Paraulacodus'' **†''Paraulacodus indicus'' **†''Paraulacodus johanesi'' *Genus †'' Protohummus'' **†''Protohummus dango'' *Genus †'' Sacaresia''? **†''Sacaresia moyaeponsi'' *Genus '' Thryonomys'' **'' Thryonomys gregorianus'' **'' Thryonomys swinderianus'' **†'' Thryonomys asakomae'' Former fossil members of the family include the genus '' Apodecter'' and two species of '' Paraphiomys'' (''australis'' and ''roessneri''), which have now been transferred to the related

Petromuridae Petromuridae is a family of hystricognath rodents that contains the dassie rat ''(Petromus typicus)'' of southwestern Africa, the only extant member of this group. The genus ''Petromus'' contains a couple of extinct species, and additionally ther ...

References

Rodent families Taxa named by R. I. Pocock Phiomorpha {{rodent-stub