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iNat·45797GenusMammalia2 field observationsExtinct
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Giant Rice Rats
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Giant Rice Rats

Megalomys

Megalomys is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae, part of the tribe Oryzomyini. The genus contains five large rodents from various Caribbean islands, of which two are known to have survived into modern times, but all of which are now extinct. The last species to survive was M. desmarestii from Martinique, which became extinct after the Mount Pelée eruption in 1902. Ancient DNA analysis places Megalomys forming a clade with Pennatomys, sister to the clade containing Aegialomys, Nesoryzomys, Melanomys and Sigmodontomys, having diverged from the mainland clade around 7 million years ago.

It contains the following species:

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4 branches of this genus, most-observed first

Santa Lucia giant rice rat

speciesMegalomys luciae

Antillean giant rice rat

speciesMegalomys desmarestii

Barbados Giant Rice Rat

speciesMegalomys georginae

Megalomys camerhogne

speciesMegalomys camerhogne

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Where it lives

Recorded sightings

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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

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Every page naming Megalomys in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 45797.