The Pedetidae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

s. The two living species, the springhares, are distributed throughout much of

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

and also around

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. Fossils have been found as far north as Turkey.McKenna, M.C. and Bell, S.K. 1997. Classification of Mammals: Above the species level. New York: Columbia University Press, 631 pp. (p. 185) Together with the

anomalure The Anomaluridae are a family of rodents found in central Africa. They are known as anomalures or scaly-tailed squirrels or African flying squirrels. The six extant species are classified into two genera. All anomalurids have membranes between ...

s and zenkerella, Pedetidae forms the suborder

Anomaluromorpha Anomaluromorpha is a clade that unites the anomalures, springhares, and zenkerella. It has alternately been designated as either a suborder or infraorder. Most recently, recognized it as one of five suborders of rodents. Characteristics T ...

. The fossil genus '' Parapedetes'' is also related.

Taxonomy

The family includes one living genus and four extinct genera. The Asian fossil '' Diatomys'' was previously included, but is now classified in the family

Diatomyidae Diatomyidae is a family of hystricomorph rodents. It is represented by a single living species, '' Laonastes aenigmamus,'' native to Laos in Southeast Asia. Fossil species are known from the Oligocene and Miocene of Asia and eastern Europe. "La ...

with the

Laotian rock rat The Laotian rock rat or ''kha-nyou'' (''Laonastes aenigmamus'', Lao: ຂະຍຸ), sometimes called the "rat-squirrel", is a species of rodent found in the Khammouan region of Laos. The species was first described in a 2005 article by Paulina ...

. *Family Pedetidae **Genus '' Pedetes'' ***

South African springhare The South African springhare (''Pedetes capensis'') () is a medium-sized terrestrial and burrowing rodent. Despite the name, it is not a hare. It is one of two extant species in the genus '' Pedetes'', and is native to southern Africa. Formerly ...

, ''P. capensis'' ***†'' Pedetes gracilis'' ***†'' Pedetes hagenstadti'' *** East African springhare, ''P. surdaster'' **Genus †'' Megapedetes'' ***†''Megapedetes aegaeus'' ***†''Megapedetes gariepensis'' ***†''Megapedetes pentadactylus'' **Genus †'' Oldrichpedetes'' ***†''Oldrichpedetes brigitteae'' ***†''Oldrichpedetes fejfari'' ***†''Oldrichpedetes pickfordi'' ***†''Oldrichpedetes praecursor'' **Genus †'' Propedetes'' ***†''Propedetes efeldensis'' ***†''Propedetes laetoliensis'' **Genus †'' Rusingapedetes'' ***†''Rusingapedetes tsujikawai''

References

*Incisor enamel microstructure and phylogenetic interrelationships of Pedetidae and Ctenodactyloidea (Rodentia). *Einiges zur Haltung und Zucht Hornchenartiger (Sciuromorpha) im Zoologischen Garten. *Postcranial morphology and springing adaptations in Pedetidae from Arrisdrift, Middle Miocene (Namibia). *Pelvic shape in gliding rodents: implications for the launch. *Tracking genome organization in rodents by Zoo-FISH. *Feldhamer, G. A., L. C. Drickamer, S. H. Vessey, and J. F. Merritt. 1999. Mammalogy. Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. WCB McGraw-Hill, Boston. xii+563pp. *McLaughlin, C. A. 1984. Protrogomorph, sciuromorph, castorimorph, myomorph (geomyoid, anomaluroid, pedetoid, and ctenodactyloid) rodents. pp. 267–288 in Anderson, S. and J. K. Jones, Jr. (eds). Orders and Families of Recent Mammals of the World. John Wiley and Sons, N.Y. xii+686 pp. *Paradiso, J. L. 1975. Walker's Mammals of the World, Third Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. *Savage, R. J. G. and M. R. Long. 1986. Mammal Evolution, an Illustrated Guide. Facts of File Publications, New York. 259 pp. *Vaughan, T. A. 1986. Mammalogy. Third Edition. Saunders College Publishing, Fort Worth. vii+576 pp. *Vaughan, T. A., J. M. Ryan, N. J. Czaplewski. 2000. Mammalogy. Fourth Edition. Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia. vii+565pp. *Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder. 1993. Mammal Species of the World, A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 2nd edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington. xviii+1206 pp. {{Taxonbar, from=Q577376 Pedetidae, Anomaluromorpha Rodent families Extant Miocene first appearances Taxa named by John Edward Gray

Taxonomy

References

Further reading