Octodontidae


Octodontidae, from Ancient Greek ὀκτώ, meaning "eight", and ὀδούς, meaning "tooth", is a family of rodents, restricted to southwestern South America. Fourteen species of octodontid are recognised, arranged in seven genera. The best known species is the common degu, Octodon degus.
Octodontids are medium-sized rodents, ranging from in body length. They have long, silky fur, which is typically brownish in color and often paler on the underside. The name 'octodont' derives from the wear pattern of their teeth, which resembles a figure 8. Most are nocturnal, social, burrowing animals, though the degu is largely diurnal. They are herbivorous, eating tubers, bulbs, and cactuses.
Some authors have suggested that the octodontids should be reclassified in the order Lagomorpha, but this has not been supported by further analyses. Older literature includes the tuco-tucos in the family, as the subfamily Ctenomyinae, but these animals are normally now treated as a separate family, Ctenomyidae. There is some evidence that evolution within the family may have resulted from polyploidy. The red viscacha rat, Tympanoctomys barrerae, has been proposed to be a tetraploid, with 102 chromosomes. However, subsequent studies have shown that the increased genome size is due to expansions of repetitive DNA elements.
Members of the genus Aconaemys are referred to as rock rats, and members of genera Octodon and Octodontomys are called degus, though the name degu on its own historically implied Octodon degu. The single member of Spalacopus, S. cyanus, is called the coruro. Members of the other genera are called 'viscacha rats'.

List of species

Genus Aconaemys Ameghino, 1891.
  • Species Aconaemys fuscus . Andes of Chile and Argentina.
  • Species Aconaemys porteri Thomas, 1917. Andes of Chile and Argentina.
  • Species Aconaemys sagei . Andes of Chile and Argentina.
Genus Spalacopus .
  • Species Spalacopus cyanus Molina, 1782.. Central Chile.
Genus Octodon Bennett, 1832.
  • Species Octodon bridgesii Waterhouse, 1844. Western Chile
  • Species Octodon degus . Western Chile.
  • Species Octodon lunatus Osgood, 1943. Western Chile.
  • Species Octodon pacificus Hutterer, 1994. Isla Mocha, off western Chile.
  • Species Octodon ricardojeda D'Elía, Teta, Verzi, Cadenilla, & Patton, 2020. Andes of Chile and Argentina.
Genus Octodontomys Palmer, 1903.
  • Species Octodontomys gliroides Gervais & D'Orbigny, 1844. Andes of northwestern Argentina, extreme northeastern Chile and western Bolivia.
Genus Octomys Thomas, 1920.
  • Species Octomys mimax Thomas, 1920. Andes of Argentina.
Genus Pipanacoctomys Mares et al., 2000.
  • Species Pipanacoctomys aureus Mares et al., 2000. Catamarca Prov., Argentina.
Genus Tympanoctomys Yepes, 1942.
  • Species Tympanoctomys barrerae . Scattered localities in western Argentina.
  • Species Tympanoctomys loschalchalerosorum . Salinas Grandes, Argentina.
  • Species Tympanoctomys kirchnerorum . western Argentina.
  • Species †''Tympanoctomys cordubensis''