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The family of rodents that include kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice and rock pocket mice is the Heteromyidae family. Most heteromyids live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, though species within the Heteromys and Liomys genera are also found in forests and extend down as far as northern South America. They feed mostly on seeds and other plant parts, which they carry in their cheek pouches to their burrows[1].
Although they are very different in physical appearance, the closest relatives of the heteromyids are pocket gophers in the Geomyidae family.
[edit] Taxonomy
Hafner et al. (2007) summarized the molecular and morphological data to date and proposed the following taxonomy:
Most authorities prior to this (Alexander and Riddle, 2005; Patton, 2005) treat Liomys as a distinct genus from Heteromys.
[edit] References
- ^ Fleming, Theodore (1984). in Macdonald, D.: The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File, 632-633. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
- Alexander, L. F. and B. R. Riddle. 2005. Phylogenetics of the New World rodent family Heteromyidae. Journal of Mammalogy, 86:399-379.
- Hafner, J. C. J. E. Light, D. J. Hafner, M. S. Hafner, E. Reddington, D. S. Rogers, and B. R. Riddle. 2007. Basal clades and molecular systematics of heteromyid rodents. Journal of Mammalogy, 88:1129-1145.
- Patton, J. L. 2005. Family Heteromyidae. Pp. 844-858 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
