Petromus
Family of rodents
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Petromus is a genus of hystricognath rodents that contains the dassie rat (Petromus typicus) of southwestern Africa, the only extant member of this group and the entire family Petromuridae.
| Petromus | |
|---|---|
| Dassie rat (Petromus typicus) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Petromuridae |
| Genus: | Petromus A. Smith, 1831 |
| Type species | |
| Petromus typicus A. Smith, 1831 | |
| Species | |
| |
Two fossil species are known from the Pliocene, with the oldest being Petromus antiquus of the Early Pliocene.[1]