Cotton rat

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Cotton rats Fossil range: Early Pliocene - Recent
Hispid Cotton Rat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Muridae Subfamily: Sigmodontinae Tribe: Sigmodontini Wagner, 1843 Genus: Sigmodon Say & Ord, 1825
Species
Sigmodon alleni Sigmodon alstoni Sigmodon arizonae Sigmodon fulviventer Sigmodon hirsutus Sigmodon hispidus Sigmodon inopinatus Sigmodon leucotis Sigmodon mascotensis Sigmodon ochrognathus Sigmodon peruanus Sigmodon planifrons Sigmodon toltecus Sigmodon zanjonensis

A cotton rat is any member of the Sigmodon genus of rodents. They are called cotton rats because they build their nests out of cotton, and can damage cotton crops. Cotton rats have small ears and dark coats, and are found in North and South America. They are primarily herbivores. The molars of cotton rats are S-shaped when viewed from above. The genus name literally means S-tooth.

Sigmodon hispidus was the first model organism to be used in polio research.

[edit] Classification

• Genus Sigmodon
  • Subgenus Sigmodon
    • Sigmodon hispidus species group
      • Sigmodon alleni - Allen's Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon arizonae - Arizona Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon hirsutus - Southern Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon hispidus - Hispid Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon mascotensis - West Mexican Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon ochrognathus - Yellow-nosed Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon planifrons - Miahuatlán Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon toltecus - Toltec Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon zanjonensis - Montane Cotton Rat
    • Sigmodon fulviventer species group
      • Sigmodon fulviventer - Tawny-bellied Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon inopinatus - Ecuadorian Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon leucotis - White-eared Cotton Rat
      • Sigmodon peruanus - Peruvian Cotton Rat
  • Subgenus Sigmomys
    • Sigmodon alstoni - Alston's Cotton Rat

[edit] References

• Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 1993. Family Muridae. Pp. 501-755 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
• Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894-1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.