Root rats
| Root rats | ||||||||||||
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Little bamboo rat ( Cannomys badius ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Rhizomyinae | ||||||||||||
| Winge , 1887 |
The rhizomyinae or rhizomys (Rhizomyinae) are in Central and Southeast Asia living subfamily of mice-like . All species live mainly underground. Because of the peculiarities of the teeth, root rats were also placed near the sand graves , i.e. with the porcupine relatives . Today zoologists assume that they are related to mice; they are combined with the blind mice and blind mole rats to form the family of the Spalacidae .
features
Bamboo rats are stocky animals with short limbs that are clearly adapted to the burrowing way of life and the diet on bamboo shoots. Their short, unscaled tail is sparsely hairy and covered with wrinkled skin. The eyes and auricles are small. Digging is done with the wide incisors that protrude to the lips and long, robust claws. The largest claw is on the third toe of the front feet.
| 1 | · | 0 | · | 0 | · | 3 | = 16 |
| 1 | · | 0 | · | 0 | · | 3 |
Depending on the species, the fur is dense, soft and silky to sparse and coarse. The coat color is slate gray, pink gray, brownish gray, chestnut or cinnamon, usually lighter on the belly than on the back. They reach a head-torso length of 147 to 480 mm, a tail length of 50 to 200 mm and a weight of 500 to 4000 g.
distribution
The distribution area extends from Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula through southern China and Nepal to the east of India .
Systematics
The subfamily includes the following two genera :
- Bamboo rats ( Rhizomys )
- Little bamboo rats ( Cannomys )
Depending on the literature, the genus Tachyoryctes is also seen as belonging to the subfamily, but the division of the genus into the subfamily Tachyoryctinae ( African mole rats ) seems to be a reasonable hypothesis, which is supported by morphological data from still living and extinct species.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e A. Poor, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, 2005: Rhizomyinae. In: Animal Diversity Web. ( Online )
- ^ A b Andrew T. Smith, Yan Xie: Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0691154275
- ↑ Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder: Mammal Species of the World. 3rd edition, Rhizomyinae Online
Web links
- Root rats in Martina Klein's animal dictionary