''Akodon'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
consisting of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
n grass mice. They mostly occur south of the
Amazon Basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...
and along the
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
north to
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, but are absent from much of the basin itself, the far south of the continent, and the lowlands west of the Andes. ''Akodon'' is one of the most species-rich genera of Neotropical rodents. Species of ''Akodon'' are known to inhabit a variety of habitats from tropical and tropical moist forests to altiplano and desert. Fossils are known from the late
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58[tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...](_blank)
Akodontini. Three of its
synonyms
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
—''Chalcomys'', ''Hypsimys'', and particularly ''Microxus''—have sometimes been regarded as distinct genera. ''
Neomicroxus'' was separated in 2013. Previously associated with ''Akodon'', the genera ''
Abrothrix'', ''
Deltamys'', ''
Necromys'', ''
Thalpomys
''Thalpomys'' is a genus of South American rodents in the tribe Akodontini of family Cricetidae. Two species are known, both found in the cerrado tropical savanna ecoregion of central Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of B ...
'', and ''
Thaptomys'' are currently recognized as distinct. Some species of the tribe
Abrotrichini are called akodons.
The genus contains the following species:
[Musser and Carleton, 2005, pp. 1092–1100]
*''
Akodon aerosus''
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Akodon affinis''
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Akodon albiventer''
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Akodon azarae''
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Akodon boliviensis''
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Akodon budini''
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Akodon caenosus''
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Akodon cursor''
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Akodon dayi''
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Akodon dolores''
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Akodon fumeus''
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Akodon glaucinus''
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Akodon iniscatus''
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Akodon juninensis''
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Akodon kofordi''
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Akodon lindberghi''
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Akodon lutescens''
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Akodon mimus''
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Akodon molinae''
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Akodon mollis''
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Akodon montensis''
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Akodon mystax''
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Akodon neocenus''
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Akodon orophilus''
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Akodon paranaensis''
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Akodon pervalens''
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Akodon philipmyersi''
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Akodon polopi''
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Akodon reigi''
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Akodon sanctipaulensis''
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Akodon serrensis''
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Akodon siberiae''
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Akodon simulator''
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Akodon spegazzinii''
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Akodon subfuscus''
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Akodon surdus''
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Akodon sylvanus''
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Akodon tartareus''
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Akodon toba''
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Akodon torques''
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Akodon varius''
Footnotes
References
Literature cited
*Braun, J.K., Coyner, B.S., Mares, M.A. and Van Den Bussche, R.A. 2008
Phylogenetic relationships of South American grass mice of the ''Akodon varius'' group (Rodentia, Cricetidae, Sigmodontinae) in South America Journal of Mammalogy 89(3):768-777.
*Braun, J. K., M. A. Mares, B. S. Coyner, and R. A. Van Den Bussche. 2010
New species of ''Akodon'' (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) from central Argentina Journal of Mammalogy, 91(2):387–400.
*D'Elía, G., Jayat, J.P., Ortiz, P.E., Salazar-Bravo, J. and Pardiñas, U.F.J. 2011
(
ttp://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/z02744p064f.pdf first page. Zootaxa 2744:62–64.
*Jayat, J.P., Ortiz, P.E., Salazar-Bravo, J., Pardiñas, U.F.J. and D'Elía, G. 2010
The ''Akodon boliviensis'' species group (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) in Argentina: species limits and distribution, with the description of a new entityabstract
. Zootaxa 2409:1–61.
*Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005
Superfamily Muroidea
Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.)
Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed
Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp.
*Pardiñas, U.F.J., D'Elía, G., Cirignoli, S. and Suarez, P. 2005
A new species of ''Akodon'' (Rodentia, Cricetidae) from the Northern Campos grasslands of Argentina
Journal of Mammalogy 86(3):462–474.
*Pardiñas, U.F.J., Teta, P., D'Elía, G. and Diaz, G.B. 2011
( ttp://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/z02749p061f.pdf abstract. Zootaxa 2749:47–61.
{{Authority control
Rodent genera