''Hypogeomys'' is a
genus of
rodents in the family
Nesomyidae, found in
Madagascar. There is one extant species, the
Malagasy giant rat (''Hypogeomys antimena''), currently an
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
with a restricted range. There is also another species known from
subfossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
s from a few thousand years ago, ''
Hypogeomys australis''. ''H. antinema'' measures , making it the largest rodent in Madagascar, while ''H. australis'' seems to have been slightly larger.
[Goodman, S.M. and Rakotondravony, D. 1996]
The Holocene distribution of ''Hypogeomys'' (Rodentia: Muridae: Nesomyinae) on Madagascar.
Biogéographie de Madagascar 1996:283–293.
References
Taxa named by Alfred Grandidier
Rodent genera
Mammal genera with one living species
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