rodentia. the single largest group of mammals is the rodentia. most non-flying mammals are rodents....
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Rodentia
Rodentia
• The single largest group of mammals is the rodentia. • Most non-flying mammals are rodents. • There are about 1500 living species of rodents (out of 4000
species of mammals).
Rodentia
• Most people are familiar with mice, rats, hamsters, and guinea pigs.
• Rodentia also includes beavers, muskrats, porcupines, woodchucks, chipmunks, squirrels, prairie dogs, and chinchillas.
• Rodentia does NOT include rabbits (they are different from rodents in that they have an extra pair of incisors and other different skeletal features).
Rodentia
• Rodents are found native on all continents except Antarctica.
• One family of rodents, the Muridae, contains over 1100 species.
• These are mice and rats.
Rodentia
• Rodents show their greatest diversity in South America. • Some of these include:
– mountain viscachas (which are rabbit-like animals that live in the moutains)
– Patagonian cavies (which are rabbit-like, fast-running animals with long ears and a short tail)
– the coypu (which is a marsh-dwelling animal that is hunted for its fur),
– burrowing animals like the pacas and tuco-tuco.
Mountain viscachas
Patagonian cavies
Coypu
Paca
Tuco-tuco
Rodent
• The capybara, which also lives in South America, is the largest living rodent.
• It is about the size of a pig and gets up to a weight of about 110 pounds.
• They live in the plains of South America and are often hunted or ranched for their meat.
Capybaras
Rodent
• All rodents share common features. • They have a single pair of incisors in each jaw, and they
grow continually throughout life. • The incisors have thick enamel layers on the front but not
on the backs; this causes them to retain their chisel shape as they are worn down.
Rodent
• Behind the incisors is a large gap in the tooth rows, or diastema.
• There are no canines, and typically only a few molars at the rear of the jaws.
• Rodents have unique chewing patterns and they also have large jaw muscles to help with this.
Rodent
• Male rodents have a baculum, which is a penis bone. • Most rodents are herbivores, but some are omnivores
while others eat only insects. • Rodents live in many different places, such as trees and
burrows. • They can also be found in some aquatic habitats and also
in the desert. • They can be solitary, like the porcupine, or live in highly-
social groups, like prairie dogs.
Rodent
• Rodents cost billions of dollars in lost crops each year. • Some are also carriers of human disease such as bubonic
plague, typhus, and Hanta fever. • Some rodent species are economically important as
sources of food or fur. • Others are used extensively in biochemical research (ie.
NOD-SCID, C57-Bl6, and nude mice).
Eastern Chipmunk
•Tamias striatus
Gray Squirrel
•Sciurus carolinensis
Beaver
•Castor canadensis
Alabama Beach Mouse
•Peromyscus polionotus ammobates
Black Rat
•Rattus rattus
Mouse
Rat
Squirrel
Chipmunk
Vole
Kangaroo Rat
Gopher
Porcupine
Beaver
Hamster
Lemming
Jerboa
Gerbil
Guinea Pig
Chinchilla
Prairie Dog
Pocket Mice
Mole Rat
Groundhog
Capybara
Marmot
Muskrat