Muroidea is a large
superfamilyIn biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...
of
rodentRodentia 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. It includes
hamsterHamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species, classified in six or seven genera....
s,
gerbilA gerbil is a small mammal of the order Rodentia. Once known simply as "desert rats", the gerbil subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats...
s, true
miceA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
and
ratRats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s, and many other relatives. They occupy a vast variety of
habitatsA habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
on every continent except
Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family,
MuridaeMuridae is the largest family of mammals. It contains over 600 species found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. They have been introduced worldwide. The group includes true mice and rats, gerbils, and relatives....
, due to difficulties in determining how the subfamilies are related to one another. The following
taxonomyTaxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
is based on recent well-supported
molecular phylogeniesMolecular phylogenetics is the analysis of hereditary molecular differences, mainly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree...
.
The muroids are classified in 6
familiesIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, 19 subfamilies, around 280
generaIn 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...
and at least 1300
speciesIn biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
.
Taxonomy
- Family Platacanthomyidae (spiny dormouse and pygmy dormice
The Chinese Pygmy Dormouse is a species of rodent in the Platacanthomyidae family.It is found in China and Vietnam.-Subspecies:...
)
- Family Spalacidae
The Spalacidae, or spalacids are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. They are native to eastern Asia, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and south-eastern Europe. It includes the blind mole rats, bamboo rats, root rats, and zokors...
fossorial muroids
- Subfamily Myospalacinae (zokor
Zokors are Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling mole rats. They include two genera, Myospalax and Eospalax. Zokors are native to much of China, Kazhakstan, and Siberian Russia....
s)
- Subfamily Rhizomyinae
The subfamily Rhizomyinae of rodents includes the Asian bamboo rats and certain of the African mole rats. The subfamily is grouped with the Spalacinae and the Myospalacinae into a family of fossorial muroid rodents basal to the other Muroidea....
(bamboo ratThe bamboo rats are four species of rodents of the subfamily Rhizomyinae. They are the sole living representatives of the tribe Rhizomyini. All are found in the eastern half of Asia.The species are:...
s and root rats)
- Subfamily Spalacinae (blind mole rat
The genus Spalax contains the blind, fossorial, or subterranean mole rats, which are one of several types of rodents that are called mole rats. The hystricognath mole rats of the family Bathyergidae are completely unrelated, but some other forms are also in the family Spalacidae...
s)
- Clade Eumuroida
Eumuroida is a clade defined in 2004 to describe a group of muroid rodents. The clade is not defined in the standard taxonomic hierarchy, but it is between superfamily and family....
- typical muroids
- Family Calomyscidae
- Subfamily Calomyscinae (mouse-like hamster
thumb|200px|rightthumb|200px|right|Mouse-like hamster using its tail for balance while standing on a branch .Mouse-like hamsters are a group of small rodents found in Syria, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan...
s)
- Family Nesomyidae
Nesomyidae is a family of African rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes several subfamilies, all of which are native to either continental Africa or to Madagascar...
- Subfamily Cricetomyinae (pouched rats and mice)
- Subfamily Dendromurinae
Dendromurinae is a subfamily of rodents in the family Nesomyidae and superfamily Muroidea. The dendromurines are currently restricted to Africa, as is the case for all extant members of the family Nesomyidae. The authorship of the subfamily has been contributed to both Alston, 1876, and to G. M...
(African climbing mice, gerbil mice, fat mice and forest mice)
- Subfamily Mystromyinae (white-tailed rat
The white-tailed rat, Mystromys albicaudatus, also known as the white-tailed mouse, is the only member of the subfamily Mystromyinae in the family Nesomyidae...
)
- Subfamily Nesomyinae
The Malagasy rats and mice are the sole members of the subfamily Nesomyinae. These animals are the only native rodents of Madagascar, come in many shapes and sizes, and occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. There are nesomyines that resemble gerbils, rats, mice, voles, and even rabbits...
(Malagasy rats and mice)
- Subfamily Petromyscinae (rock mice and the climbing swamp mouse)
- Family Cricetidae
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, and New World rats and mice...
- Subfamily Arvicolinae
The Arvicolinae are a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. They are most closely related to the other subfamilies in the Cricetidae . Some authorities place the subfamily Arvicolinae in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea...
(voleA vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars . There are approximately 155 species of voles. They are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in North America...
s, lemmingLemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
s and muskratThe muskrat , the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats...
)
- Subfamily Cricetinae (true hamster
Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species, classified in six or seven genera....
s)
- Subfamily Neotominae
Neotominae is a subfamily of the family Cricetidae. It consists of four tribes, 16 genera, and many species of New World rats and mice, predominantly found in North America. Among them are the well-known deer mice, white-footed mice, packrats, and grasshopper mice.Neotomines are related to the...
(North American rats and mice)
- Subfamily 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...
(New World rats and miceThe New World rats and mice are a group of related rodents found in North and South America. They are extremely diverse in appearance and ecology, ranging in from the tiny Baiomys to the large Kunsia...
)
- Subfamily Tylomyinae
The subfamily Tylomyinae consists of several species of New World rats and mice including the vesper and climbing rats. They are not as well known as their relatives in the subfamilies Sigmodontinae and Neotominae...
- Family Muridae
Muridae is the largest family of mammals. It contains over 600 species found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. They have been introduced worldwide. The group includes true mice and rats, gerbils, and relatives....
- Subfamily Deomyinae
The subfamily Deomyinae consists of four genera of mouse-like rodents that were placed in the subfamilies Murinae and Dendromurinae until very recently. They are sometimes called Acomyinae, particularly in references that predate the discovery that the link rat, Deomys ferugineus, is part of the...
(spiny mice, brush furred mice, link rat)
- Subfamily Gerbillinae (gerbil
A gerbil is a small mammal of the order Rodentia. Once known simply as "desert rats", the gerbil subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats...
s, jirds and sand rats)
- Subfamily Leimacomyinae (Togo Mouse
The Togo Mouse, also known as Büttner's African Forest Mouse or the Groove-toothed Forest Mouse , is a unique muroid rodent known from only two specimens taken from near the type locality of Bismarckburg, near Yege, Togo in 1890...
)
- Subfamily Lophiomyinae (crested rat)
- Subfamily Murinae
The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. This subfamily is larger than all mammal families except the Cricetidae and Muridae, and is larger than all mammal orders except the bats and the remainder of the...
(Old World ratRats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s and mice including vlei ratThe Southern African Vlei Rat is a species of rodent in the Otomys genus of the family Muridae.It is found in Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe....
s)