For uses of Brucie as a nickname please see Brucey.

Brucepattersonius is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

s within the tribe Akodontini

Akodontini

Akodontini is the second most speciose tribe of the subfamily Sigmodontinae. It includes at least 106 living species in 19 genera and is distributed mainly in the southern half of South America, with only two genera extending into Guyana and Venezuela . It also includes genera previously placed in...

 from southeastern South America. Also known as Brucies, the genus is named after Bruce Patterson, MacArthur Curator at the Department of Zoology (Mammals), at the Field Museum of Natural History

Field Museum of Natural History

The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex known as the Museum Campus Chicago...

, Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

In 1998, Philip Hershkovitz

Philip Hershkovitz

Philip Hershkovitz was an American mammalogist. Born in Pittsburgh, he attended the Universities of Pittsburgh and Michigan and lived in South America collecting mammals. In 1947, he was appointed a curator at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and he continued to work there until his...

 described the genus and four species from the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil and also included the previously described species B. iheringi, which had been included in Oxymycterus

Oxymycterus

Oxymycterus is the genus of hocicudos. They are rat-like animals endemic to South America.Species listing:Oxymycterus is the genus of hocicudos. They are rat-like animals endemic to South America.Species listing:...

and some other genera before. Two years later, Mares and Braun described three additional species from Misiones Province

Misiones Province

Misiones is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamiсa region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest.- History :The province was...

, northeastern Argentina, on the basis of a total of three species. In 2006, Vilela and others found that two of Hershkovitz's species were in fact identical. More material from Argentina was later reported, but not assigned to species.

The Brucies belong to the subfamily Sigmodontinae

Sigmodontinae

The subfamily Sigmodontinae is one of the most diverse groups of mammals. It includes New World rats and mice, with at least 376 species. Many authorities include the Neotominae and Tylomyinae as part of a larger definition of Sigmodontinae. When those genera are included, the species count...

 and the tribe

Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

 Akodontini

Akodontini

Akodontini is the second most speciose tribe of the subfamily Sigmodontinae. It includes at least 106 living species in 19 genera and is distributed mainly in the southern half of South America, with only two genera extending into Guyana and Venezuela . It also includes genera previously placed in...

. They are ground-dwellers, and may have a preference for higher altitudes within the rain forest area. Each species is thought to be restricted to a limited area. It is uncertain if they are all distinct species, since many are known from very few specimen, which makes it difficult to know how variable Brucies are.