Madagascar rats

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Madagascar rats
Votsotsa (Hypogeomys antimena)

Votsotsa ( Hypogeomys antimena )

Systematics
Order : Rodents (Rodentia)
Subordination : Mouse relatives (Myomorpha)
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea)
Eumuroida
Family : Nesomyidae
Subfamily : Madagascar rats
Scientific name
Nesomyinae
Forsyth Major , 1897
Genera

The Madagascar rats (Nesomyinae) are a group of rodents that are considered a subfamily of the Nesomyidae . This group includes around 25 species in nine genera, all of which live exclusively on Madagascar , where they are naturally the only representatives of the mouse species (Muroidea).

features

Madagascar rats have colonized different habitats and accordingly developed different body shapes. The Votsotsa , the largest representative of this group, resembles a rabbit in physique and way of life , there are also species similar to gerbils such as the Madagascar big-footed mice , vole-like species such as the Madagascar short-tailed rats and rat-like representatives such as the island rats and the Voalavoanala . The tooth formula of all types is 1 / 1-0 / 0-0 / 0-3 / 3, so they have a total of 16 teeth. Their head torso length varies between 9 and 35 centimeters and their weight between 25 and 1500 grams.

Way of life

The way of life of the Madagascar rats is as varied as the body shapes. There are ground-dwelling and tree-dwelling species, some animals also build underground burrows that serve them as sleeping places and as food stores. Most representatives are nocturnal.

All Madagascar rats are exclusively herbivores that feed on fruits, seeds, berries and stems. Little is known about reproduction and social behavior for most species. But they play an important ecological role as prey for snakes , birds of prey and Malagasy predators .

Many species are threatened, especially by the introduction of real rats and mice to Madagascar, which make the endemic rodents their habitat in dispute. The destruction of their habitat is also a threat to some species.

Systematics

Because of their morphological differences, the Madagascar rats were sometimes thought to be unrelated to one another and were assigned to different groups of the mice . Today, the monophyly of this group is clearly proven by molecular genetic studies. The relationship between this group and other rodent taxa has also long been a mystery.

An extinct rodent clade of the Miocene , the Afrocricetodontidae, which was native to East Africa, was often seen as the parent group of the Madagascar rats . While they were displaced by other rodent groups on the mainland and became extinct, they remained to themselves on the isolated island of Madagascar. Recently, based on molecular genetic studies, the Madagascar rats have been united with some purely African rodent taxa in the Nesomyidae family .

The following genera are distinguished:

literature

Web links

Commons : Madagascar Rats (Nesomyinae)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files