Spiny Tree-rat

Echimys Temporal range: Pleistocene to Recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Echimyidae
Subfamily:	Echimyinae
Genus:	Echimys G. Cuvier, 1809
Species
Echimys chrysurus Echimys saturnus Echimys vierai
Synonyms
Echinomys Wagner, 1840 Loncheres Illiger, 1811 Nelomys Jourdan, 1837

Echimys is a genus of spiny rat. Members of the genus are collectively called Spiny Tree-rats as they are arboreal and have pronounced spines.

Classification

The genus contains three extant species

• White-faced Spiny Tree-rat - Echimys chrysurus
• Dark Spiny Tree-rat - Echimys saturnus
• Echimys vierai

Members of the genera Callistomys, Makalata, Pattonomys, and Phyllomys were all formerly considered part of the genus Echimys.

References

• Woods, C. A. and C. W. Kilpatrick. 2005. Hystricognathi. Pp 1538-1600 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 3rd ed. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.