Dasyproctidae
| Dasyproctidae Fossil range: Late Oligocene - Recent | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazilian Agouti, Dasyprocta leporina | ||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Genera | ||||||||||||||||||
|
†Alloiomys |
The Dasyproctidae are a family of large South American rodents, comprising the agoutis and acouchis. 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[1].
Classification
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
- Brazilian 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
- 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.
- Woods, C. A. and C. W. Kilpatrick. 2005. Hystricognathi. Pp 1538-1600 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 3rd ed. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Dasyproctidae". Image Credit.
