Muroidea is a large superfamily of rodents. It includes hamsters, gerbils, true mice and rats, and many other relatives. They occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to difficulties in determining how the subfamilies are related to one another. The following taxonomy is based on recent well-supported molecular phylogenies.

The muroids are classified in 6 families, 19 subfamilies, around 280 genera and at least 1300 species.

Taxonomy

• Family Platacanthomyidae - incertae sedis - (spiny dormouse and pygmy dormice)
• Family Spalacidae fossorial muroids
• Subfamily Myospalacinae (zokors)
• Subfamily Rhizomyinae (bamboo rats and root rats)
• Subfamily Spalacinae (blind mole rats)
• Clade Eumuroida - typical muroids
• Family Calomyscidae
• Subfamily Calomyscinae (mouse-like hamsters)
• Family Nesomyidae
• Subfamily Cricetomyinae (pouched rats and mice)
• Subfamily Dendromurinae (African climbing mice, gerbil mice, fat mice and forest mice)
• Subfamily Mystromyinae (white-tailed rat)
• Subfamily Nesomyinae (Malagasy rats and mice)
• Subfamily Petromyscinae (rock mice and the climbing swamp mouse)
• Family Cricetidae
• Subfamily Arvicolinae (voles, lemmings and muskrat)
• Subfamily Cricetinae (true hamsters)
• Subfamily Neotominae (North American rats and mice)
• Subfamily Sigmodontinae (New World rats and mice)
• Subfamily Tylomyinae
• Family Muridae
• Subfamily Deomyinae (spiny mice, brush furred mice, link rat)
• Subfamily Gerbillinae (gerbils, jirds and sand rats)
• Subfamily Leimacomyinae (Togo Mouse)
• Subfamily Lophiomyinae (crested rat)
• Subfamily Murinae (Old World rats and mice including vlei rats)

References

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    • Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 1993. Family Muridae. Pp. 501-755 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C.
    • Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894-1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
    • Norris, R. W., K. Y. Zhou, C. Q. Zhou, G. Yang, C. W. Kilpatrick, and R. L. Honeycutt. 2004. The phylogenetic position of the zokors (Myospalacinae) and comments on the families of muroids (Rodentia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31:972-978.
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