Muroidea is a large superfamily of rodents. It includes hamsters, gerbils, true mice and rats, and many other relatives. 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. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies.

The muroids are classified in 6 families, 19 subfamilies, around 280 genera and at least 1300 species.

Taxonomy

• Family Platacanthomyidae incertae sedis
  • Subfamily Platacanthomyinae (spiny dormouse and pygmy dormice)
• Family Spalacidae fossorial muroids
  • Subfamily Myospalacinae (zokors)
  • Subfamily Rhizomyinae (bamboo rats and root rats)
  • Subfamily Spalacinae (blind mole rats)
• Clade Eumuroida - typical muroids
  • Family Calomyscidae
    • Subfamily Calomyscinae (mouse-like hamsters)
  • Family Nesomyidae
    • Subfamily Cricetomyinae (pouched rats and mice)
    • Subfamily Dendromurinae (African climbing mice, gerbil mice, fat mice and forest mice)
    • Subfamily Mystromyinae (white-tailed rat)
    • Subfamily Nesomyinae (Malagasy rats and mice)
    • Subfamily Petromyscinae (rock mice and the climbing swamp mouse)
  • Family Cricetidae
    • Subfamily Arvicolinae (voles, lemmings and muskrat)
    • Subfamily Cricetinae (true hamsters)
    • Subfamily Neotominae (North American rats and mice)
    • Subfamily Sigmodontinae (New World rats and mice)
    • Subfamily Tylomyinae
  • Family Muridae
    • Subfamily Deomyinae (spiny mice, brush furred mice, link rat)
    • Subfamily Gerbillinae (gerbils, jirds and sand rats)
    • Subfamily Lophiomyinae (crested rat)
    • Subfamily Murinae (Old World rats and mice including vlei rats)

References

• Primary Taxonomic Reference
  • 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.
• Other Taxonomic References
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Norris, R. W., K. Y. Zhou, C. Q. Zhou, G. Yang, C. W. Kilpatrick, and R. L. Honeycutt. 2004. The phylogenetic position of the zokors (Myospalacinae) and comments on the families of muroids (Rodentia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31:972-978.