see text The Malagasy rats and mice are the sole members of the subfamily Nesomyinae. These animals are the only native rodents of Madagascar, come in many shapes and sizes, and occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. There are nesomyines that resemble gerbils, rats, mice, voles, and even rabbits. There are arboreal, terrestrial, and semi-fossorial varieties.

These rodents are clearly most closely related to some muroid rodents found on the African mainland. Some molecular phylogeneticists consider this clade of Malagasy and African rodents to represent a distinct family, the Nesomyidae. Other researchers place the Nesomyinae into a large family, Muridae, along with all members of the superfamily Muroidea.

It has been reported that the Nesomyinae is not a monophyletic clade, but this has not been supported in other analyses. Additionally, there were problems with this particular study, notably the use of Calomyscus as an outgroup while more distantly related muroids (rhyzomyines) were included in the ingroup . It seems likely that all rodents in Madagascar are descendents from a single invasion of the island.

The Nesomyinae contains 10 genera and 14 species.

Taxonomy

• Subfamily Nesomyinae - Malagasy rats and mice
  • Genus Brachytarsomys
    • Brachytarsomys albicauda
  • Genus Brachyuromys
    • Brachyuromys betsileoensis
    • Brachyuromys ramirohitra
  • Genus Eliurus
    • Eliurus majori
    • Eliurus minor
    • Eliurus myoxinus
    • Eliurus penicillatus
    • Eliurus tanala
    • Eliurus webbi
  • Genus Gymnuromys - Voalavoanala
    • Gymnuromys roberti - Voalavoanala
  • Genus Hypogeomys - Malagasy giant rat
    • Hypogeomys antimena - Malagasy giant rat
  • Genus Macrotarsomys
    • Macrotarsomys bastardi
    • Macrotarsomys ingens
  • Genus Monticolomys
    • Monticolomys koopmani
  • Genus Nesomys
    • Nesomys rufus

References

• Jansa, S. A., S. M. Goodman, and P. K. Tucker. 1999. Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the native rodents of Madagascar (Muridae, Nesomyinae): a test of the single origin hypothesis. Cladistics, 15:253-270.

• 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.

• 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.