Anomaluromorpha
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Anomaluridae |
Anomaluromorpha is the name given to a clade that unites the anomalures with the springhare. It has alternately been designated as either a suborder or infraorder. Most recently, Carleton and Musser (2005) recognized it as one of five suborders of rodents.
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[edit] Characteristics
The suborder Anomaluromorpha was erected to unite sciurognathous rodents with a hystricomorphous zygomasseteric system restricted to sub-Saharan Africa. 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. This character, the hystricomorphous zygomatic region, and a common distribution in southern continents has led many researchers to suggest that the springhare (but not anomalures) may be allied with hystricognaths. Montgelard et al., (2002) generated some support for Anomaluromorpha in a molecular phylogeny using 12S rRNA and cytochrome b.
[edit] Families
The suborder Anomaluromorpha contains 9 living species in 4 genera and two families. An additional fossil family probably belongs to this group.
- †Parapedetidae
- Pedetidae - springhare
- Anomaluridae - scaly-tailed flying squirrels, flying mice
[edit] Potential relatives
The following fossil taxa are also sometimes placed in the Anomaluromorpha:
- †Diatomys
- †Zegdoumyidae
[edit] References
- Carleton, M. D. and G. G. Musser. 2005. Order Rodentia. Pp745-752 in Mammal Species of the World A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds.). Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press.
- McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. ISBN 0-231-11013-8
- Montgelard, C., S. Bentz, C. Tirard, O. Vernaeu, and F. M. Catzeflis. 2002. Molecular systematics of Sciurognathi: the mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S rRNA genes support the Anomaluroidea (Pedetidae and Anomaluridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 22:220-233.
