Rice rat

Taxobox
name = Rice rats

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Oryzomys palustris"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Rodentia
superfamilia = Muroidea
familia = Cricetidae
subfamilia = Sigmodontinae
tribus = Oryzomyini
in part
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Oryzomys"
"Nesoryzomys"
"Oecomys"
"Melanomys"
"Oligoryzomys"
"Microryzomys"

The rice rats are various species in the Oryzomyini tribe of New World rats. When trying to give the rice rats a monophyletic meaning, the term is usually used to refer to the species of the "Oryzomys" genus. However species from other genera in the tribe, including "Nesoryzomys" (e.g. the James Rice Rat), "Oecomys" (the arboreal rice rats), "Melanomys" (e.g. the Dusky Rice Rat), "Oligoryzomys" (the pygmy rice rats) and "Microryzomys" (the small rice rats) have "rice rat" in their common names so it is usual now to think of the rice rats as a vernacular term for a paraphyletic grouping of rats found in southern North America, Central and South America. For details, see the articles about each genus.