Megalomys
| Megalomys Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene-Late Holocene
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|---|---|
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| Megalomys desmarestii | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Sigmodontinae |
| Tribe: | Oryzomyini |
| Genus: | †Megalomys Trouessart, 1881 |
| Species | |
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†Megalomys audreyae | |
Megalomys is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae, part of the tribe Oryzomyini. The genus contains five large rodents from various Caribbean islands, all of which are now extinct. The last species to survive was M. desmarestii from Martinique, which became extinct after the Mount Pelée eruption in 1902.
It contains the following species:
- Megalomys audreyae (Barbuda giant rice rat)
- Megalomys curazensis (Curaçao giant rice rat)
- Megalomys desmarestii (Martinique giant rice rat)
- Megalomys georginae (Barbados giant rice rat)
- Megalomys luciae (Saint Lucia giant rice rat)
References
- Extinct species section of the Joint Science department, Claremont college
- Turvey, S.T., Brace, S. and Weksler, M. A new species of recently extinct rice rat (Megalomys) from Barbados. Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 77(6): 404–413.