| Heteromys | |
|---|---|
| |
| Heteromys desmarestianus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Heteromyidae |
| Subfamily: | Heteromyinae |
| Genus: | Heteromys Desmarest, 1817 |
| Type species | |
| Mus anomalus Thompson, 1815. | |
Heteromys is a genus of rodents in the family Heteromyidae,[1] commonly known as spiny pocket mice. It is the only extant genus in the subfamily Heteromyinae which also includes the extinct genera Diprionomys and Metaliomys.[2] Heteromys was recently enlarged by inclusion of the members of formerly recognized heteromyine genus Liomys, which was found to be paraphyletic.[3]
Heteromyines are distributed from southern TexastoEcuador and Venezuela, and include all but one of the castorimorph species of South America. Like all of South America's other non-caviomorph rodents, they arrived in the continent relatively recently as part of the Great American Interchange. They inhabit mainly forests; some are also found in scrubland.
The genus Heteromys comprises the following species of spiny pocket mice:
| Heteromys |
|
|---|---|
Authority control databases: National  |
|
|---|
 | This Heteromyidae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
