Oryzomys

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Rice rats
Fossil range: Pleistocene - Recent
Oryzomys palustris
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Sigmodontinae
Tribe: Oryzomyini
Genus: Oryzomys
Baird, 1858
Species

See Text

The genus Oryzomys contains numerous species of muroid rodents commonly referred to as rice rats. These animals are named due to the prevalence of many species in marshy regions and as pests of rice fields.

According to recent phylogenetic analyses, Oryzomys is horribly polyphyletic. Species of the genus are interspersed among the whole tribe Oryzomyini. O. intectus has already been removed to a new genus, Handleyomys, together with Aepeomys fuscatus, but the other species are still retained in Oryzomys. Probably, Oryzomys contains only O. couesi, O. dimidiatus, O. gorgasi, O. nelsoni and O. palustris.

Head and body are 9-20 cm with a tail length of 7.5-25 cm and a weight of 40-80 g. Size varies widely by species.

Diet includes grasses, seeds, fruits, crustaceans and small fish.

[edit] Species

[edit] References

  • Duff, A. and A. Lawson. 2004. Mammals of the World A Checklist. New Haven, Yale University Press.
  • Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Vol. 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, London.
  • 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.

[edit] External links

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