Dasyproctidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dasyproctidae Temporal range: Late Oligocene–Recent |
|
|---|---|
| Central American Agouti, Dasyprocta punctata | |
| Scientific classification |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Hystricomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Hystricognathi |
| Parvorder: | Caviomorpha |
| Family: | Dasyproctidae Gray, 1825 |
| Genera | |
|
See text. |
|
Dasyproctidae is a family of large South American rodents, comprising the agoutis and acouchis.[1] Their fur is a reddish or dark colour above, with a paler underside. They are herbivorous, often feeding on ripe fruit that falls from trees. They live in burrows, and, like squirrels, will bury some of their food for later use.[2]
Classification [edit]
Fossil taxa follow McKenna and Bell (1997), with modifications following Kramarz (2005).
- Family Dasyproctidae
- Genus †Alloiomys
- Genus †Australoprocta
- Genus †Branisamys
- Genus †Incamys
- Genus †Neoreomys
- Genus †Megastus
- Genus †Palmiramys
- Genus Dasyprocta
- Azara's Agouti, Dasyprocta azarae
- Coiban Agouti, Dasyprocta coibae
- Crested Agouti, Dasyprocta cristata
- Black Agouti, Dasyprocta fuliginosa
- Orinoco Agouti, Dasyprocta guamara
- Kalinowski Agouti, Dasyprocta kalinowskii
- Red-rumped Agouti, Dasyprocta leporina
- Mexican Agouti, Dasyprocta mexicana
- Black-rumped Agouti, Dasyprocta prymnolopha
- Central American Agouti, Dasyprocta punctata
- Ruatan Island Agouti, Dasyprocta ruatanica
- Genus Myoprocta
- Green Acouchi, Myoprocta pratti
- Red Acouchi, Myoprocta acouchy
The pacas (genus Cuniculus) are placed by some authorities (Woods, 1993;McKenna and Bell, 1997) in the Dasyproctidae, but molecular studies have demonstrated that they do not form a monophyletic group (Rowe and Honeycutt, 2002).
References [edit]
- ^ Woods, C. A.; Kilpatrick, C. W. (2005). "Infraorder Hystricognathi". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1538–1600. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Bishop, Ian (1984). In Macdonald, D. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. p. 701. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
- Kramarz, A.G. 2005. A primitive cephalomyid hystricognath rodent from the early Miocene of northern Patagonia, Argentina. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50(2):249-258. PDF fulltext
- McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. ISBN 0-231-11013-8
- Rowe, D. L. and R. L. Honeycutt. 2002. Phylogenetic relationships, ecological correlates, and molecular evolution within the Cavioidea (Mammalia, Rodentia). Molecular Biology and Evolution, 19:263-277.
- Woods, C. A. 1993. Hystricognathi. In Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||