Reithrodon group sensu stricto

Phyllotines with sigmodont molars

Scott J. Steppan

new genus T

Containing group: Phyllotini

Characteristics

Members of the Reithrodon group all have high-crowned (hypsodont), simplied (without most accessory cusps), and involuted molars for grinding, grooved incisors, and deeply excavated parapterygoid fossa, among other features. The shape of the third molar led to the description "sigmodont" molars (Hershkovitz 1962). However, the most distinctive feature is a synapomorphy for the Reithrodon group sensu stricto, a sharply angled premaxillo-maxillary suture, a trait unique among New World muroids. In contrast, the molar charcteristcs have evolved to varying degrees convergently in a variety of unrelated muroids in presumptive adaptation to a fibrous diet.

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Other Names for Reithrodon group sensu stricto

Phyllotines with sigmodont molars
Reithrodon group

Information on the Internet

Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Internet version.

About This Page

Scott J. Steppan
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Scott J. Steppan at

First online 01 October 1996

Citing this page:

Steppan, Scott J. 1996. Reithrodon group sensu stricto. Phyllotines with sigmodont molars. Version 01 October 1996 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Reithrodon_group_sensu_stricto/16695/1996.10.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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