Overview
Chinchilla rats are members of the family Abrocomidae. They resemble in appearance, with a similar soft fur and silvery-grey color, but have a body-structure more like a short-tailed rat. They are social, tunnel-dwelling animals, and live in the Andes Mountains of South America. They are probably herbivorous, although this is not clear1].
They can be described as medium sized. Stiff hairs project over the three middle digits of the rear feet. Their massive skulls narrow in the facial areas.[2] Some molecular work [3], suggests that, despite their appearance, they may be more closely related to octodontoids such as degus, nutria, and tuco-tucos than they are to chinchillas and viscachas.
Species
- Family Abrocomidae - chinchilla rats
- †Protabrocoma
- †Protabrocoma antigua
- Abrocoma
- Abrocoma bennettii - Bennett's Chinchilla Rat
- Abrocoma boliviensis - Bolivian Chinchilla Rat
- Abrocoma budini
- Abrocoma cinerea - Ashy Chinchilla Rat
- Abrocoma famatina
- Abrocoma schistacea
- Abrocoma uspallata
- Abrocoma vaccarum
- Cuscomys
- †Cuscomys oblativus
- Cuscomys ashaninka
- †Protabrocoma
Photos
Taxonomy
The Family Abrocomidae is a member of the Superfamily Chinchilloidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Abrocomidae:
- Domain: Eukaryota
Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Infrakingdom: Chordonia
(Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum: Chordata
Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
- Class: Mammalia
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Mammals
- Subclass: Theriiformes
(Rowe, 1988) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Infraclass: Holotheria
(Wible Et Al., 1995) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Superlegion: Trechnotheria
Mckenna, 1975
- Legion: Cladotheria
Mckenna, 1975
- Sublegion: Zatheria
Mckenna, 1975
- Infralegion: Tribosphenida
(Mckenna, 1975) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Supercohort: Theria
(Parker & Haswell, 1897) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997 - Therians
- Cohort: Placentalia
(Owen, 1837) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997 - Placentals
- Magnorder: Epitheria
(Mckenna, 1975) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Superorder: Preptotheria
(Mckenna, 1975) Mckenna, in Stucky & Mckenna, in Benton, Ed., 1993
- Grandorder: Anagalida
(Szalay & Mckenna, 1971) Mckenna, 1975
- Mirorder: Simplicidentata
(Weber, 1904) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Order: Rodentia
Bowdich, 1821 - Rodents
- Suborder: Hystricognatha
Woods, 1976
- Infraorder: Hystricognathi
Tullberg, 1899 - Hystricognath Rodents
- Parvorder: Caviida
Bryant & Mckenna, 1995
- Superfamily: Chinchilloidea
(Bennett, 1833) Kraglievich, 1940
- Family: Abrocomidae Miller & Gidley, 1918 - Chinchilla-Rats
- Superfamily: Chinchilloidea
(Bennett, 1833) Kraglievich, 1940
- Parvorder: Caviida
Bryant & Mckenna, 1995
- Infraorder: Hystricognathi
Tullberg, 1899 - Hystricognath Rodents
- Suborder: Hystricognatha
Woods, 1976
- Order: Rodentia
Bowdich, 1821 - Rodents
- Mirorder: Simplicidentata
(Weber, 1904) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Grandorder: Anagalida
(Szalay & Mckenna, 1971) Mckenna, 1975
- Superorder: Preptotheria
(Mckenna, 1975) Mckenna, in Stucky & Mckenna, in Benton, Ed., 1993
- Magnorder: Epitheria
(Mckenna, 1975) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Cohort: Placentalia
(Owen, 1837) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997 - Placentals
- Supercohort: Theria
(Parker & Haswell, 1897) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997 - Therians
- Infralegion: Tribosphenida
(Mckenna, 1975) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Sublegion: Zatheria
Mckenna, 1975
- Legion: Cladotheria
Mckenna, 1975
- Superlegion: Trechnotheria
Mckenna, 1975
- Infraclass: Holotheria
(Wible Et Al., 1995) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Subclass: Theriiformes
(Rowe, 1988) M.c. Mckenna & S.k. Bell, 1997
- Class: Mammalia
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Mammals
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
- Phylum: Chordata
Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
- Infrakingdom: Chordonia
(Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
The Family Abrocomidae is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Genus (1): Abrocoma
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 8 species and subspecies in the Family Abrocomidae.
Genera
Abrocoma
Abrocoma is a of abrocomid rodents found in the Andes of South America, from southern Peru to central Chile. The genus contains eight species, most of which are found in isolated mountain ranges in northwestern Argentina. [more]
At least 8 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Abrocoma.
More info about the Genus Abrocoma may be found here.
References
- ^ Bishop, Ian (1984). in Macdonald, D.: The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File, 701. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
- ^ Allaby, Michael. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Zoology. pg 1. Oxford University Press. New York. 1992.
- ^ Huchon, D. and E. J. P. Douzery (2001). "From the Old World to the New World: a molecular chronicle of the phylogeny and biogeography of hystricognath rodents". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 20: 238–251. doi:
Sources
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