Bandicota Temporal range: Holocene
| |
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Lesser bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Muridae |
Tribe: | Rattini |
Genus: | Bandicota Gray, 1873 |
Type species | |
Mus giganteus[1] | |
Species | |
Bandicota is a genus of rodents from Asia known as the bandicoot rats. Their common name and genus name are derived from the Telugu language word pandikokku (పందికొక్కు). DNA studies have found the group to be a monophyletic clade sister to the radiation of Molucca and Australian Rattus species as part of the paraphyletic Rattus sensu lato.[2]