Castorimorpha is the suborder of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

s containing the

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

s and the kangaroo rats. A 2017 study using

retroposon Retroposons are repetitive DNA fragments which are inserted into chromosomes after they had been reverse transcribed from any RNA molecule. Difference between retroposons and retrotransposons In contrast to retrotransposons, retroposons never ...

markers indicated that they are most closely related to the

Anomaluromorpha Anomaluromorpha is a clade that unites the anomalures, springhares, and zenkerella. It has alternately been designated as either a suborder or infraorder. Most recently, recognized it as one of five suborders of rodents. Characteristics Th ...

(the scaly-tailed squirrels and the springhare) and

Myomorpha The suborder Myomorpha contains 1,524 species of mouse-like rodents, nearly a quarter of all mammal species. Included are mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, lemmings, and voles. They are grouped according to the structure of their jaws and molar ...

(mouse-like rodents).

Taxonomy

*Suborder Castorimorpha **Superfamily Castoroidea ***Family †

Eutypomyidae Eutypomyidae is a family (biology), family of extinct rodents from North America and Eurasia thought to be related to modern beavers. References

Prehistoric rodent families Eocene first appearances Miocene extinctions {{paleo-rodent- ...

***Family

Castoridae The family Castoridae contains the two living species of beavers and their fossil relatives. A highly diverse group of rodents within this family once roamed the earth, but only a single genus is extant today, '' Castor''. Characteristics C ...

- beavers ***Family †

Rhizospalacidae ''Rhizospalax'' is a genus of extinct rodent from Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also ...

**Infraorder Geomorpha ***Superfamily †

Eomyoidea Eomyidae is a family (biology), family of extinct rodents from North America and Eurasia related to modern day pocket gophers and Heteromyidae, kangaroo rats. They are known from the Middle Eocene to the Late Miocene in North America and from the ...

****Family †

Eomyidae Eomyidae is a family of extinct rodents from North America and Eurasia related to modern day pocket gophers and kangaroo rats. They are known from the Middle Eocene to the Late Miocene in North America and from the Late Eocene to the Pleistocene ...

***Superfamily

Geomyoidea Geomyoidea is a superfamily of rodent that contains the pocket gophers ( Geomyidae), the kangaroo rats and mice (Heteromyidae), and their fossil relatives. Characteristics Although dissimilar in overall appearance, gophers have been united with ...

****Family †

Heliscomyidae Heliscomyidae is a family (biology), family of extinct rodents from the mid-Tertiary of North America related to pocket gophers (family Geomyidae) and kangaroo rats and their relatives (family Heteromyidae). The family contains four genera, ''Ap ...

****Family †

Florentiamyidae Florentiamyidae is a family of extinct rodents from North America. They are part of the Superfamily Geomyoidea according to R. L. Carroll 1988. They are known to have existed 33.3 to 15.97 mya. They are known from the Miocene of United States ...

****Family † Entoptychidae ****Family Geomyidae - pocket gophers ****Family

Heteromyidae Heteromyidae is a family of rodents consisting of kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice and spiny pocket mice. Most heteromyids live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, though species within the gen ...

- kangaroo rats and mice ** Diplolophidae ***Genus †'' Floresomys'' ***Genus †'' Texomys'' ***Genus †'' Jimomys'' ***Genus †'' Diplolophus'' ***Genus †'' Schizodontomys'' ***Genus †'' Griphomys'' ***Genus †'' Meliakrouniomys'' † indicates extinct taxa.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Carleton, M. D. and G. G. Musser. 2005. Order Rodentia. Pp 745–752 in Mammal Species of the World A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. *McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. ''Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level.'' Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. Rodent taxonomy Mammal suborders Extant Eocene first appearances Taxa named by Albert Elmer Wood {{rodent-stub