The Atlantic spiny rats are all found in the genus Trinomys. They are a group of South American spiny-rats in the family Echimyidae.
Extant species of Trinomys
Based on Natureserve.InfoNatura: Animals and Ecosystems of Latin America [web application]. 2007. Version 5.0 . Arlington, Virginia (USA): NatureServe. Available:
Trinomys albispinus White-spined Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys dimidiatus Soft-spined Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys eliasi Elias's Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys gratiosus Gracile Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys iheringi Ihering's Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys mirapitanga Dark-caped Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys moojeni Moojen's Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys myosuros Mouse-tailed Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys paratus Spiked Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys setosus Hairy Atlantic spiny rat Trinomys yonenagae Yonenaga's Atlantic spiny rat
The species of spiny rats in the genus Trinomys are apparently all Brazilian. In particular many of them are endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. Not much is known for certain about their ranges however, which still are being investigated, with frequent extensions to the recorded distributions of several species in various ecological classes of forest and dry land. They do not however appear to occur at high altitudes, and several of their ranges appear to be parapatric. Most species of Trinomys are terrestrial and ambulatory, though Trinomys yonenagae is unusual that it is semi-fossorial, living in colonial burrows, and exhibits incipient specializations for saltatorial locomotion.
Phylogeny
Genus level Trinomys is the sister genus to the fossorial genera Clyomys and Euryzygomatomys. In turn, these three genera — forming the clade of Euryzygomatomyinae — share phylogenetic affinities with a clade containing Carterodon and members of the family Capromyidae.
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