Petromuridae is a family of

hystricognath The Hystricognathi are an infraorder of rodents, distinguished from other rodents by the bone structure of their skulls. The masseter medialis (a jaw muscle) passes partially through a hole below each eye socket (called the infraorbital foramen) ...

rodents 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 nat ...

that contains the

dassie rat The dassie rat (''Petromus typicus'') is an African rodent found among rocky outcroppings. It is the only living member of its genus, ''Petromus'', and family, Petromuridae. The name " dassie" means " hyrax" in Afrikaans,dassie rats are not to ...

''(Petromus typicus)'' of southwestern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the only extant member of this group. The genus ''

Petromus ''Petromus'' is a genus of hystricognath rodents that contains the dassie rat ''(Petromus typicus)'' of southwestern Africa, the only extant member of this group and the entire family Petromuridae. Two fossil species are known from the Plioce ...

'' contains a couple of extinct species, and additionally there are fossil genera formerly of the family

Thryonomyidae Thryonomyidae is a family of hystricognath rodents that contains the cane rats ''(Thryomys)'' found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and a number of fossil genera. Taxonomy Thryonomyidae was formerly more diverse and widespread, with fossil relati ...

that were found to belong to this family instead; '' Apodecter'', '' Tufamys'' and two species of '' Paraphiomys'' (''australis'' and ''roessneri'') which have yet to be placed in their own genus.

References

Rodent families Hystricognath rodents {{rodent-stub