Muroidea
The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to difficulties in determining how the subfamilies are related to one another. Many of the families within the Muroidea superfamily have more variations between the families than between the different clades. A possible explanation for the variations in rodents is because of the location of these rodents; these changes could have been due to radiation or the overall environment they migrated to or originated in. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies.
The muroids are classified in six families, 19 subfamilies, around 280 genera, and at least 1,750 species.
Taxonomy
- Family Platacanthomyidae
- Family Spalacidae
- *Subfamily Myospalacinae
- *Subfamily Rhizomyinae
- *Subfamily Spalacinae
- Clade Eumuroida – typical muroids
- *Family Calomyscidae
- **Subfamily Calomyscinae
- *Family Nesomyidae
- **Subfamily Cricetomyinae
- **Subfamily Dendromurinae
- **Subfamily Mystromyinae
- **Subfamily Nesomyinae
- **Subfamily Petromyscinae
- *Family Cricetidae
- **Subfamily Arvicolinae
- **Subfamily Cricetinae
- **Subfamily Neotominae
- **Subfamily Sigmodontinae
- **Subfamily Tylomyinae
- *Family Muridae
- **Subfamily Deomyinae
- **Subfamily Gerbillinae
- **Subfamily Leimacomyinae
- **Subfamily Lophiomyinae
- **Subfamily Murinae
Phylogeny
Five main clades are recognized by Jansa & Weksler.- Family Spalacidae: Spalacinae, Myospalacinae, and Rhizomyinae
- Family Calomyscidae: Calomyscinae
- Family Nesomyidae: Petromyscinae, Mystromyinae, Cricetomyinae, Nesomyinae, and core dendromurines
- Family Muridae: Murinae, Otomyinae, Gerbillinae, Acomyinae, and Lophiomyinae
- Family Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae, Arvicolinae, and Cricetinae
The following phylogeny of more than 70 Muroidea genera, based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Interphotoreceptor Retinoid Binding Protein gene, is from Jansa & Weksler. Although Platacanthomyidae was not analyzed by Jansa & Weksler, a study by Fabre et al. 2012 suggests that it is sister to the remaining groups within Muroidea.