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Muroid Rodent
The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to difficulties in determining how the subfamilies are related to one another. Many of the families within the Muroidea superfamily have more variations between the families than between the different clades. A possible explanation for the variations in rodents is because of the location of these rodents; these changes could have been due to radiation or the overall environment they migrated to or originated in. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies. The muroids are classified in six families, 19 subfamilies, around 280 genera, and at least 1,750 species. Taxonomy *Family Platacanthomyidae (spiny ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habitat (ecology)
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ecological niche. Thus "habitat" is a species-specific term, fundamentally different from concepts such as environment or vegetation assemblages, for which the term "habitat-type" is more appropriate. The physical factors may include (for example): soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light intensity. Biotic factors will include the availability of food and the presence or absence of predators. Every species has particular habitat requirements, with habitat generalist species able to thrive in a wide array of environmental conditions while habitat specialist species requiring a very limited set of factors to survive. The habitat of a species is not necessarily found in a geographical area, it can be the interior ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bamboo Rat
The bamboo rats are four species of rodents of the subfamily Rhizomyinae. They are the sole living representatives of the tribe Rhizomyini. All are found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia. The species are: *The Chinese bamboo rat, '' Rhizomys sinensis'', found in central and southern China, northern Burma, and Vietnam; *The hoary bamboo rat, '' R. pruinosus'', found from Assam in India to southeastern China and the Malay Peninsula; *The Sumatra, Indomalayan, or large bamboo rat, ''R. sumatrensis'', found in Yunnan in China, Indochina, the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. *The lesser bamboo rat, ''Cannomys badius'', found in Nepal, Assam, northern Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and northern Vietnam. Bamboo rats vary in size, from the lesser bamboo rat, which is typically long (head and body: tail length is ), and weighs from , to the Sumatra bamboo rat, which can reach lengths of nearly with a tail, and weighs up to . However, they are all bulky, sl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhizomyinae
The rodent subfamily Rhizomyinae includes the Asian bamboo rats and certain of the African mole-rats. The subfamily is grouped with the Spalacinae and the Myospalacinae into a family of fossorial muroid rodents basal to the other Muroidea. The group includes 17 species classified in 3 genera and 2 tribes: *Subfamily Rhizomyinae **Tribe Rhizomyini - Bamboo rats ***Genus ''Rhizomys'' **** Hoary bamboo rat, ''Rhizomys pruinosus'' ****Chinese bamboo rat, ''Rhizomys sinensis'' ****Large bamboo rat, ''Rhizomys sumatrensis'' ***Genus '' Cannomys'' ****Lesser bamboo rat, ''Cannomys badius'' **Tribe Tachyoryctini ***Genus ''Tachyoryctes'' - African mole-rats ****Ankole African mole-rat, ''Tachyoryctes ankoliae'' ****Mianzini African mole-rat, ''Tachyoryctes annectens'' ****Aberdare Mountains African mole-rat, ''Tachyoryctes audax'' ****Demon African mole-rat, ''Tachyoryctes daemon'' ****Kenyan African mole-rat, ''Tachyoryctes ibeanus'' ****Big-headed African mole-rat, ''Tachyoryctes m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zokor
Zokors are Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling mole-rats. They include two genera: ''Myospalax'' and ''Eospalax''. Zokors are native to much of China, Kazakhstan, and Siberia, Siberian Russia. Traditionally, zokors were thought to be closely related to either hamsters (Cricetinae) or voles (Arvicolinae), but recent molecular phylogeny, molecular phylogenetic studies have demonstrated they are more closely related to blind mole-rats (Spalacinae) and root and bamboo rats (Rhizomyinae) in the family Spalacidae. It appears that one of the first important cladogenesis, evolutionary splits in Muroidea, muroid rodents is between burrowing forms and Eumuroida, nonburrowing forms. Unlike the other Spalacidae, spalacids, which primarily use their incisors, zokors use their powerful front claws for digging. They have small eyes and no external ears. Zokors feed on plant matter such as tubers and seeds. Zokor bone is sometimes used as a more environmentally friendly alternative to tig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myospalacinae
Zokors are Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling mole-rats. They include two genera: ''Myospalax'' and ''Eospalax''. Zokors are native to much of China, Kazakhstan, and Siberian Russia. Traditionally, zokors were thought to be closely related to either hamsters ( Cricetinae) or voles (Arvicolinae), but recent molecular phylogenetic studies have demonstrated they are more closely related to blind mole-rats (Spalacinae) and root and bamboo rats (Rhizomyinae) in the family Spalacidae. It appears that one of the first important evolutionary splits in muroid rodents is between burrowing forms and nonburrowing forms. Unlike the other spalacids, which primarily use their incisors, zokors use their powerful front claws for digging. They have small eyes and no external ears. Zokors feed on plant matter such as tubers and seeds. Zokor bone is sometimes used as a more environmentally friendly alternative to tiger bone in traditional Chinese medicine. This product is called ''sailo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Pygmy Dormouse
The Chinese pygmy dormouse, (''Typhlomys cinereus'') is a species of rodent of the family Platacanthomyidae found in China and Vietnam. Subspecies Musser and Carleton (2005) recognized five subspecies. While the northwest Vietnamese form '' Typhlomys cinereus chapensis'' is often treated as a distinct species, it falls within the normal variance of Chinese ''T. cinereus''. *Pygmy dormouse or soft-furred tree mouse ''Typhlomys cinereus'' Milne-Edwards, 1877 **'' T. c. cinereus'' Milne-Edwards, 1877 **'' T. c. chapensis'' Osgood, 1932 **'' T. c. daloushanensis'' Wang & Li, 1996 **''T. c. guangxiensis'' Wang & Chen, 1996 **'' T. c. jingdongensis'' Wu & Wang, 1984 Description The Chinese pygmy dormouse grows to a head-and-body length of about with a tail of one and half times its body-length. It has prominent, nearly hairless ears and white whiskers. The dorsal fur is dark greyish-brown and the underparts are grey with white-tipped hairs. The tail has whorls of scales near its bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiny Dormouse
The Malabar spiny dormouse (''Platacanthomys lasiurus'') is a species of muroid rodent endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Platacanthomys'' and although resembling a dormouse, it is not closely related. About the size of a brown rat, this arboreal species lives in tree holes in dense forest habitats in a small family group. They are distinguishable from other species in the area by their bushy tuft tip to the tail and the spiny fur on the back. Description This rodent is about 5 in long with a 4-in tail. The ears are large and pointed at the tip. The whiskers are numerous and some are very long. The hairy tail is covered with longer hairs towards the end, making the tail wider at the tip. The hairs arise on the sides towards the base of the tail (an arrangement termed as "subdistichous") giving the tail a slightly flattened appearance. The pollux ("thumb") and hallux ("big toe") are without claws. The skull is broad and flat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family (taxonomy), family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. ''Panthera leo'' (lion) and ''Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus ''Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomy (biology), taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molecular Phylogeny
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to determine the processes by which diversity among species has been achieved. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree. Molecular phylogenetics is one aspect of molecular systematics, a broader term that also includes the use of molecular data in taxonomy and biogeography. Molecular phylogenetics and molecular evolution correlate. Molecular evolution is the process of selective changes (mutations) at a molecular level (genes, proteins, etc.) throughout various branches in the tree of life (evolution). Molecular phylogenetics makes inferences of the evolutionary relationships that arise due to molecular evolution and results in the construction of a phylogenetic tree. History The theoretical framew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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