Hamster rats
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| Hamster rats | ||||||||||||
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Crycetomys gambianus |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cricetomyinae | ||||||||||||
| Roberts , 1951 |
The pouched rats (Cricetomyinae) are a small subfamily of the mice relatives that Africa south of the Sahara live. They are shaped like rats and are characterized by large cheek pouches that gave them their name. Yet they belong neither to the rats nor to the hamsters. Hamster rats have bare tails and small eyes.
features
The types of the hamster rats are small ( Saccostomus ) to very large ( Cricetomys ), strongly built rodents. Their head is large, the limbs relatively short and stocky, the tail is very short ( Saccostomus ) or very long ( Beamys , Cricetomys ).
Habitat and way of life
They are predominantly nocturnal animals that inhabit all kinds of habitats from dry savannahs to rainforests. They feed on seeds, fruits, and tubers that are hoarded in relatively complex building systems for immediate or later consumption.
Systematics
The three genera were not recognized as belonging together for a long time and only set up as a subfamily of the long-tailed mice by Austin Roberts in 1951 . Other zoologists believed they were a tribe of voles or gave them the rank of a family of their own. According to the latest molecular genetic analyzes, the hamster rats appear to be the sister group of the tree mice within the newly established family of the Nesomyidae .
- Short-tailed hamster rats ( Saccostomus )
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Long-tailed hamster rats ( Beamys )
- Little hamster rat ( Beamys hindei )
- Big hamster rat ( Beamys major )
- Giant Hamster Rats ( Cricetomys )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Jonathan Kingdon et al. : Mammals of Africa. Volume III: Rodents, Hares and Rabbits, 2013, Bloomsbury, ISBN 978-1408122570 , p. 153.
