Psammomys
Genus of rodents
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Psammomys is a genus of rodents in the family Muridae.[1] The two species in the genus are the fat sand rat (Psammomys obesus) and the thin sand rat (Psammomys vexillaris).
| Psammomys Temporal range: Late Pleistocene – Recent | |
|---|---|
| |
| Fat sand rat (Psammomys obesus) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Subtribe: | Rhombomyina |
| Genus: | Psammomys Cretzschmar, 1828 |
| Type species | |
| Psammomys obesus | |
| Species | |
The etymology of the genus name derives from the two Ancient Greek words ψάμμος (psámmos), meaning "sand", and μῦς (mûs), meaning "mouse, rat".[2][3] The complete nuclear DNA genome of one Psamomys species, P. obesus, has been sequenced in 2017.[4]