Cricetidae
| Cricetidae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
Meadow vole , Microtus pennsylvanicus
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Superfamily: | Muroidea |
| Family: | Cricetidae J. Fischer , 1817
|
| Type genus | |
Cricetus
, 1758 | |
| Subfamilies | |
|
Cricetinae Neotominae Sigmodontinae Tylomyinae and see below | |
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is the either the largest or second-largest family of mammals, and has members throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Characteristics
The cricetids are small mammals, ranging from just 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in) in length and 7 g (0.25 oz) in weight in the
Like the
Their diets are similarly variable, with
| Dentition |
|---|
| 1.0.0.3 |
| 1.0.0.3 |
Cricetids' populations can increase rapidly in times of plenty, due to a combination of short gestation periods between 15 and 50 days, and large litter sizes relative to many other mammals. The young are typically born blind, hairless, and helpless.[1]
Evolution and systematics
The cricetids first evolved in the Old World during the Early Oligocene.[2][3] They soon adapted to a wide range of habitats, and spread throughout the world. The voles and lemmings arose later, during the Pliocene, and rapidly diversified during the Pleistocene.[4]
The circumscription of Cricetidae has gone through several permutations. Some members of the family as currently defined have been placed in the family
The cricetids thus currently include one fossil and five extant
- Arvicolinae — voles, lemmings, muskrat
- Cricetinae — hamsters
- †Democricetodontinae (fossil)
- Neotominae — North American rats and mice, including deer mice, pack rats, and grasshopper mice
- brucies
- Tylomyinae — New World climbing rats and relatives
- †Copemys (fossil)[6]
- †Eumys (fossil)
- †Wilsoneumys (fossil)
References
- ^ a b Eisenberg et al. (1984)
- ISBN 0-231-11640-3.
- ^ Freudenthal, M. (1996). "The Early Oligocene rodent fauna of Olalla 4A (Teruel, Spain)". Scripta Geologica. 112: 1–67.
- ^ Savage & Long (1986): 122–124
- ^ Michaux et al. (2001), Jansa & Weksler (2004), Norris et al. (2004), Steppan et al. (2004)
- ^ Martin, J. E.; Mallory, V. S. (2011). "Vertebrate paleontology of the late Miocene (Hemphillian) Wilbur Locality of central Washington". Paludicola. 8 (3): 155–185.
- Eisenberg, J.F.; Feaver, J. & Krebs, C.J. (1984): Cricetidae. In: Macdonald, D. (ed.): The Encyclopedia of Mammals: 640–655, 672–673. Facts on File, New York. ISBN 0-87196-871-1
- Jansa SA, Weksler M (2004). "Phylogeny of muroid rodents: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP gene sequences" (PDF). PMID 15019624. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2008-07-20.
- Michaux Johan; Reyes Aurelio; Catzeflis François (2001). "Evolutionary history of the most speciose mammals: molecular phylogeny of muroid rodents" (PDF). PMID 11606698.
- Norris RW, Zhou KY, Zhou CQ, Yang G, Kilpatrick CW, Honeycutt RL (2004). "The phylogenetic position of the zokors (Myospalacinae) and comments on the families of muroids (Rodentia)". PMID 15120394.
- Savage, R.J.G. & Long, M.R. (1986): Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide. Facts on File, New York. ISBN 0-8160-1194-X
- Steppan SJ, Adkins RA, Anderson J (2004). "Phylogeny and divergence date estimates of rapid radiations in muroid rodents based on multiple nuclear genes". Systematic Biology. 53 (4): 533–553. PMID 15371245.