| Isothrix Temporal range: Pleistocene - Recent |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Echimyidae |
| Subfamily: | Echimyinae |
| Genus: | Isothrix Wagner, 1845 |
| Species | |
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I. barbarabrownae |
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| Synonyms | |
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Lasiuromys Deville, 1852 |
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The toros or brush-tailed rats, genus Isothrix, are a group of spiny rats found in tropical South America, particularly in the Amazon Basin.
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Toros look like large rats with soft fur on the body and long guard hairs on the scaly tail (Emmons, 2005). Head and body is 18-27.5 cm and tail is 17–30 cm (Nowak, 1999). Weight is 320-570 grams.
These animals appear to be arboreal, based on the shape of their hind feet (Nowak, 1999). They are thought to spend the day in holes in the ground near trees.
There are currently five species recognized in the genus.[1] Callistomys pictus was previously considered a member of this genus, but most authors consider it distinct enough to warrant a separate genus (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). Although tentatively considered an echimyine, Emmons (2005) and other authors as have suggested that Isothrix may not be particularly closely related to other members of its subfamily. There does, however, appear to be good support for the monophyly of the three species found in this genus (Emmons, 2005).