''Handleyomys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

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 n ...

s in the tribe

Oryzomyini Oryzomyini is a tribe of rodents in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the family Cricetidae. It includes about 120 species in about thirty genera,Weksler et al., 2006, table 1 distributed from the eastern United States to the southernmost parts of ...

of family

Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At almost 608 species, it is the second-largest family of mammals, and h ...

. It was first described in 2002 to include two species from the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

which were previously included in distinct and unrelated genera, ''

Aepeomys ''Aepeomys'' is a small genus of rodents in the family Cricetidae. The species in this genus are found in Ecuador (''A. lugens'') and Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Boli ...

'' and ''

Oryzomys ''Oryzomys'' is a genus of semiaquatic rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini living in southern North America and far northern South America. It includes eight species, two of which—the marsh rice rat (''O. palustris'') of the United States and ...

'', but which turned out to be closely related. Later, in 2006, six other species were provisionally added from ''

''; these are expected to be placed in new genera in the future. The genus now includes the following species: *'' Handleyomys alfaroi'' *'' Handleyomys chapmani'' *'' Handleyomys fuscatus'' *'' Handleyomys intectus'' *''

Handleyomys melanotis ''Handleyomys melanotis'', also known as the black-eared oryzomysMusser and Carleton, 2005 or black-eared rice rat, is a species of rodent in the genus ''Handleyomys'' of family Cricetidae. It is found in coastal lowland forest in western Mexico ...

'' *'' Handleyomys rhabdops'' *'' Handleyomys rostratus'' *'' Handleyomys saturatior''

Literature cited

* * Rodent genera {{Sigmodontinae-stub