Owl's spiny rat (''Carterodon sulcidens'') is a rodent species in the family

Echimyidae Echimyidae is the family of neotropical spiny rats and their fossil relatives. This is the most species-rich family of hystricognath rodents. It is probably also the most ecologically diverse, with members ranging from fully arboreal to terres ...

found in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Carterodon''. Owl's spiny rat has evolved characteristics such as a heightened ability to dig in open grasslands during times of environmental change.Bezerra, Alexandra & Marinho-Filho, Jader & Carmignotto, Ana. (2011). A review of the distribution, morphology, and habit of the Owl’s Spiny Rat Carterodon sulcidens (Lund, 1841) (Rodentia: Echimyidae). Zoological studies. 50. 566-576.

Phylogeny

The genus ''Carterodon'' is the sister group to the family Capromyidae (hutias). In turn, this clade shares evolutionary affinities with some genera of spiny rats belonging to the subfamily

Euryzygomatomyinae Euryzygomatinae is a subfamily of rodents, proposed in 2017, and containing three extant genera of spiny Echimyidae: '' Clyomys'', '' Euryzygomatomys'', and ''Trinomys''. Members_of_this_echimyid_subfamily_all_share_an_origin_in_the_eastern_part ...

. Analyses of craniodental characters proposed that ''Carterodon'' may be associated with ''Clyomys'' and ''Euryzygomatomys''. However, molecular data suggest the

polyphyly A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

of this assemblage of fossorial genera.

References

Echimyidae Mammals described in 1841 Taxa named by Peter Wilhelm Lund {{Echimyidae-stub oc:Carterodon