''Psammomys'' is a genus of
rodents in the family
Muridae
The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia.
The name Muridae come ...
.
The etymology of the genus name derives from the two
Ancient Greek words (), meaning "sand", and (), meaning "mouse, rat".
The complete nuclear DNA genome of one ''Psamomys'' species, ''P. obesus'', has been sequenced in 2017.
It contains the following species:
*
Fat sand rat
The fat sand rat (''Psammomys obesus'') is a terrestrial mammal from the gerbil subfamily that is mostly found in North Africa and the Middle East, ranging from Mauritania to the Arabian Peninsula. This species usually lives in sandy deserts, but ...
, ''Psammomys obesus''
*
Thin sand rat
The thin sand rat or lesser sand rat (''Psammomys vexillaris'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It has also been previously named the pale sand rat based on work published by Oldfield Thomas in 1925.
It is found in Algeria, Libya, ...
, ''Psammomys vexillaris''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q64524
Rodent genera
Taxa named by Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot