Heteromyinae is a subfamily 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 in the 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 th ...

, commonly known as spiny pocket mice. It contains a single extant genus, ''

Heteromys ''Heteromys'' is a genus of rodents in the family Heteromyidae, commonly known as spiny pocket mice. It is the only extant genus in the subfamily Heteromyinae which also includes the extinct genera '' Diprionomys'' and ''Metaliomys''. ''Hetero ...

'', as well as the extinct genera ''

Diprionomys ''Diprionomys'' is an extinct genus of Heteromyidae that existed in the United States during the Late Miocene period. References

Heteromyidae Miocene rodents Neogene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1910 {{Heteromyida ...

'' and ''

Metaliomys ''Metaliomys'' is an extinct genus of Heteromyidae that existed in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North Ame ...

''. ''Heteromys'' was recently enlarged by inclusion of the members of formerly recognized heteromyine genus ''Liomys'', which was found to be

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

Taxonomy

Heteromyinae is the sister group of

Perognathinae Perognathinae is a subfamily of rodents consisting of two genera of pocket mice. Most species live in complex burrows within the deserts and grasslands of western North America, They feed mostly on seeds and other plant parts, which they carr ...

; the two are estimated to have split about 22-23 million years ( Ma) ago. The most recent common ancestor of extant heteromyines is thought to have lived 12-15 Ma ago; the basal species in the subfamily is '' H. salvini''.

References

Heteromyidae Taxa named by John Edward Gray Mammal subfamilies {{Heteromyidae-stub