| Reithrodon Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Recent
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Bunny rat (Reithrodon auritus) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Sigmodontinae |
| Tribe: | Phyllotini |
| Genus: | Reithrodon Waterhouse, 1837 |
| Type species | |
| Reithrodon typicus | |
| Species | |
Reithrodon is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae.[1] It contains the following living species:
- Bunny rat (Reithrodon auritus)
- Naked-soled conyrat (Reithrodon typicus)
The scientific name translates as "channel tooth" and refers to grooves on the upper incisors. The oldest fossils date from the late Pliocene, about four million years ago. The immediate ancestors of the genus may have evolved as the southern regions of South America became increasingly arid around the end of the Miocene.[2]
- ^ Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1165–1166. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Ortiz, P.E.; et al. (2000). "A new fossil phyllotine (Rodentia: Muridae) from northwestern Argentina and relationships of the Reithrodon group". Journal of Mammalogy. 81 (1): 37–51. doi:10.1093/jmammal/81.1.37.