Murinae

Murinae
Old World rats and mice
Temporal range: Middle Miocene - Recent
Mus musculus, the House Mouse
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Superfamily: Muroidea
Family: Muridae
Subfamily: Murinae
Illiger, 1811
Genera

Abditomys
Abeomelomys
Aethomys
Anisomys
Anonymomys
†Antemus
†Anthracomys
Apodemus
Apomys
Archboldomys
Arvicanthis
Baiyankamys
Bandicota
Batomys
†Beremendimys
Berylmys
Bullimus
Bunomys
†Canariomys
Carpomys
†Castillomys
†Castromys
†Chardinomys
Chiromyscus
Chiropodomys
Chiruromys
Chrotomys
Coccymys
Colomys
Conilurus
†Coryphomys
Crateromys
Crossomys
Cremnomys
Crunomys
Dacnomys
Dasymys
Dephomys
Desmomys
†Dilatomys
Diomys
Diplothrix
Echiothrix
Eropeplus
†Euryotomys
Golunda
Grammomys
Hadromys
Haeromys
Hapalomys
Heimyscus
†Hooijeromys
†Huaxiamys
†Huerzelerimys
Hybomys
Hydromys
Hylomyscus
Hyomys
Kadarsanomys
†Karnimata
Komodomys
†Kritimys
Lamottemys
Leggadina
Lemniscomys
Lenomys
Lenothrix
Leopoldamys
Leporillus
Leptomys
Limnomys
Lorentzimys
Macruromys
Madromys
Malacomys
Mallomys
†Malpaisomys
Mammelomys
Margaretamys
Mastacomys
Mastomys
Maxomys
Melasmothrix
Melomys
Mesembriomys
Micalaemys
Microhydromys
Micromys
†Mikrotia
Millardia
Mirzamys
Muriculus
Musseromys
Mus
Mylomys
Myomyscus
Myotomys
Nesokia
Nesoromys
Nilopegamys
Niviventer
Notomys
Oenomys
†Orientalomys
Otomys
Palawanomys
†Paraethomys
†Parapodemus
Papagomys
Parahydromys
Paraleptomys
Paramelomys
Parotomys
†Parapelomys
Paruromys
Paulamys
Pelomys
Phloeomys
Pithecheir
Pithecheirops
Pogonomelomys
Pogonomys
Praomys
†Progonomys
Protochromys
†Qianomys
Pseudohydromys
Pseudomys
†Ratchaburimys
Rattus
Rhabdomys
†Rhagamys
†Rhagapodemus
Rhynchomys
†Saidomys
Saxatilomys
Solomys
Sommeromys
†Spelaeomys
Srilankamys
Stenocephalemys
†Stephanomys
Stochomys
Sundamys
Taeromys
Tarsomys
Tateomys
Thallomys
Thamnomys
Tokudaia
Tonkinomys
Tryphomys
Uromys
Vandeleuria
Vernaya
†Wushanomys
 Xenuromys
Xeromys
†Yunomys
Zelotomys
Zyzomys

The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. This subfamily is larger than all mammal families except the Cricetidae and Muridae, and is larger than all mammal orders except the bats and the remainder of the rodents.

Contents

Description

The Murinae are native to Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. They are the only terrestrial placental mammals native to Australia. They have also been introduced to all continents except Antarctica, and are serious pest animals. This is particularly true in island communities where they have contributed to the endangerment and extinction of many native animals.

Two prominent murine human commensals have become vital laboratory animals. The brown rat and house mouse are both used as medical subjects.

The murines have a distinctive molar pattern that involves three rows of cusps instead of two, the primitive pattern seen most frequently in muroid rodents.

Fossils

The first known appearance of the Murinae in the fossil record is about 14 million years ago with the fossil genus Antemus. Antemus is thought to derive directly from Potwarmus, which has a more primitive tooth pattern. Likewise, two genera, Progonomys and Karnimata are thought to derive directly from Antemus. Progonomys is thought to be the ancestor of Mus and relatives, while Karnimata is thought to lead to Rattus and relatives. All of these fossils are found in the well-preserved and easily dated Siwalik fossil beds of Pakistan. The transition from Potwarmus to Antemus to Progonomys and Karnimata is considered an excellent example of anagenic evolution.

Taxonomy

Most of the Murinae have been poorly studied. Some genera have been grouped, such as the hydromyine water rats, conilurine or pseudomyine Australian mice, or the phloeomyine Southeast Asian forms. No tribal level taxonomy has been attempted for the complete subfamily. It appears as if genera from southeast Asian islands and Australia may be early offshoots compared to mainland forms. The vlei rats in the genera Otomys and Parotomys are often placed in a separate subfamily, Otomyinae, but have been shown to be closely related to African murines in spite of their uniqueness.

Three genera, Uranomys, Lophuromys, and Acomys were once considered to be murines, but were found to be more closely related to gerbils through molecular phylogenetics. They have been assigned a new subfamily status, Deomyinae.

List of Species

As of 2005, the Murinae contain 129 genera in 584 species. Musser and Carleton (2005) divided the Murinae into 29 genus divisions. They treated the Otomyinae as a separate subfamily, but all molecular analyses conducted to date have supported their inclusion in the Murinae as relatives of African genera (Michaux et al., 2001; Jansa and Weksler, 2004; Steppan et al., 2004; 2005; Jansa et al., 2006). In a recent expedition in the Philippines, 7 more Apomys mice were added and the genus was proposed to split into two subgenera - Apomys and Megapomys, based on morphological and cytochrome b DNA sequence (Heaney et al., 2011).

SUBFAMILY MURINAE - old world rats and mice

  • Dasymys Division
    • Genus Dasymys - Shaggy Swamp Rat
      • Glover Allen's Shaggy Rat, Dasymys alleni
      • Crawford-Cabral's Shaggy Rat, Dasymys cabrali
      • Cape Shaggy Rat, Dasymys capensis
      • Fox's Shaggy Rat, Dasymys foxi
      • Dasymys griseifrons
      • African Marsh Rat, Dasymys incomtus
      • Dasymys longipilosus
      • Montane Shaggy Rat, Dasymys montanus
      • Angolan Marsh Rat, Dasymys nudipes
      • Robert's Shaggy Rat, Dasymys robertsii
      • West African Shaggy Rat, Dasymys rufulus
      • Rwandan Shaggy Rat, Dasymys rwandae
      • Dasymys shortridgei
      • Tanzanian Shaggy Rat, Dasymys sua
  • Echiothrix Division
  • Golunda Division
  • Hadromys Division
    • Genus Hadromys - Manipur Bush Rat
      • Manipur Bush Rat, Hadromys humei
      • Hadromys loujacobsi
      • Yunnan Bush Rat, Hadromys yunnanensis
  • Hybomys Division
  • incertae sedis
    • Genus Mirzamys
      • Mirza’s Western Moss Rat, Mirzamys louiseae
      • Mirza’s Eastern Moss Rat, Mirzamys norahae
    • Genus Musseromys
      • Banahaw Tree Mouse, Musseromys gulantang

References

  • Chevret, P., C. Denys, J.-J. Jaeger, J. Michaux, and F.M. Catzeflis. 1993. Molecular evidence that the spiny mouse (Acomys) is more closely related to gerbils (Gerbillinae) than to the true mice (Murinae). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 90:3433-3436.
  • Heaney, L., Balete, D., Rickart, E., Alviola, P., Duya, M., Duya, M., Veluz, M., VandeVrede, L., & Steppan, S. (2011). Chapter 1: Seven New Species and a New Subgenus of Forest Mice (Rodentia: Muridae: Apomys) from Luzon Island Fieldiana Life and Earth Sciences, 2, 1-60 DOI: 10.3158/2158-5520-2.1.1
  • Jacobs, L.L. 1978. Fossil rodents (Rhizomyidae and Muridae) from Neogene Siwalik deposits, Pakistan. Bulletin of the Museum of Northern Arizona, 52: 1-103.
  • Jansa, S., F. K. Barker, and L. R. Heaney. 2006. The pattern and timing of diversification of Philippine endemic rodents: evidence from mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences. Systematic Biology, 55:73-88.
  • Jansa, S.A. and M. Weksler. Phylogeny of muroid rodents: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31:256-276.
  • McKenna, M.C. and S. K. Bell. 1997. Classification of Mammals above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York.
  • Michaux, J., A. Reyes, and F. Catzeflis. 2001. Evolutionary history of the most speciose mammals: molecular phylogeny of muroid rodents. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 17:280-293.
  • Musser, G.G. and M. D. Carleton. 1993. Family Muridae. pp. 501–755 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D.E. Wilson and D.M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
  • Musser, G. G. and L. R. Heaney. 2006. Philippine rodents: Definitions of Tarsomys and Limnomys plus a preliminary assessment of phylogenetic patterns among native Philippine murines (Murinae, Muridae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 211:1–138.
  • Nowak, R.M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Vol. 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, London.
  • Steppan, S.J., R.A. Adkins, and J. Anderson. 2004. Phylogeny and divergence date estimates of rapid radiations in muroid rodents based on multiple nuclear genes. Systematic Biology, 53:533-553.
  • Steppan, S. J., R. M. Adkins, P. Q. Spinks, and C. Hale. 2005. Multigene phylogeny of the Old World mice, Murinae, reveals distinct geographic lineages and the declining utility of mitochondrial genes compared to nuclear genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 37:370-388.