Telicomys

Taxobox
name = "Telicomys"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Miocene to Early Pliocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Rodentia
subordo = Hystricomorpha
familia = Dinomyidae
genus = "Telicomys"
genus_authority = Kraglievich, 1926
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision ="Telicomys giganteus" "Telicomys gigantissimus"

"Telicomys" is an extinct genus of rodent from South America.

With a length of more than 2 m (approx. 7 ft) in "T. gigantissimus", it contains two of the largest rodents that ever lived, along with "Phoberomys" and the giant beaver. It is part of the same South American radiation of rodents as both "Phoberomys" and the modern capybara, which is the largest living rodent, reaching lengths of up to 1,35 m (4 ft 6 in). The closest living relative to "Telicomys" is the pacarana.

Its name was made from Greek τηλικος + μυς = "a mouse [= rodent] of such a size".