The Trinidad spiny rat (''Proechimys trinitatis''
) is a species 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 n ...
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 terr ...
. It is found in
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
and northern Venezuela.
Phylogeny
Morphological characters and mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences showed that ''P. trinitatus'' belongs to the so-called ''trinitatus'' group of ''Proechimys'' species, and shares closer phylogenetic affinities with the other members of this clade: ''
P. mincae'', ''
P. guairae'', ''
P. poliopus'', ''
P. magdalenae'', ''
P. chrysaeolus'', ''
P. urichi'', and ''
P. hoplomyoides''.
References
Mammals of the Caribbean
Mammals of Trinidad and Tobago
Proechimys
Mammals described in 1893
Taxa named by Joel Asaph Allen
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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