Giant tree-rat
{{Short description|Species of mammals belonging to the spiny rat family of rodents}}
{{Speciesbox | name = Giant tree-rat
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| display_parents = 5
| genus = Toromys
| parent_authority = Iack-Ximenes, De Vivo, & Percequillo, 2005
| species = grandis
| authority = (Wagner, 1845)
| synonyms =
Loncheres grandis Wagner, 1845
Echimys grandis (Wagner, 1845)
Makalata grandis (Wagner, 1845)
}}
The giant tree-rat (Toromys grandis) is a species in the family Echimyidae, the spiny rats. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Toromys. It is endemic to Brazil, where it occurs in the flooded forest along the banks of the Amazon River and its tributaries.
This species was formerly considered to be a member of the genera Loncheres and Makalata. In 2005 it was reclassified as the only member of the new genus Toromys.{{cite journal|author=Iack-Ximenes |author2= De Vivo |author3= Percequillo |year=2005 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263388836 |title= A new genus for Loncheres grandis Wagner, 1845, with taxonomic comments on other arboreal echimyids (Rodentia, Echimyidae)|journal=Arquivos do Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro)|volume=63|issue=1|pages= 89–112}}
The etymology of the genus name derives from the onomatopoeic Portuguese word {{wikt-lang|pt|toró}}, referring to the vocalizations of this rodent, and the ancient greek word {{wikt-lang|grc|μῦς}} ({{grc-transl|μῦς}}), meaning "mouse, rat".{{Cite book |title=Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français |last=Bailly |first=Anatole |date=1981-01-01 |publisher=Hachette |isbn=978-2010035289 |location=Paris |oclc=461974285 }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.tabularium.be/bailly/ |title=Greek-french dictionary online |last=Bailly |first=Anatole |website=www.tabularium.be |access-date=November 10, 2017}}
Phylogeny
Toromys is the sister genus to Pattonomys. These taxa are closely related to Echimys, Phyllomys, and Makalata, reflecting the fact that Toromys grandis and Pattonomys occasius have formerly been placed in Makalata by some authorities.{{MSW3 Hystricognathi | id = 13400442 | page = | heading = Species Makalata grandis}} In turn, these five genera share phylogenetic affinities with a clade containing the bamboo rats Dactylomys, Olallamys, Kannabateomys together with Diplomys and Santamartamys.
{{cladogram
|title=Genus-level cladogram of the Echimyini.
|caption=The cladogram has been reconstructed from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA characters.{{Cite journal|last1=Lara|first1=Márcia C.|last2=Patton|first2=James L.|author-link2=James L. Patton|last3=da Silva|first3=Maria Nazareth F.|year=1996|title=The Simultaneous Diversification of South American Echimyid Rodents (Hystricognathi) Based on Complete Cytochrome b Sequences|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=5|issue=2|pages=403–413|doi=10.1006/mpev.1996.0035|pmid=8728398|bibcode=1996MolPE...5..403L }}{{Cite journal|last1=Leite|first1=Yuri L. R.|last2=Patton|first2=James L.|author-link2=James L. Patton|year=2002|title=Evolution of South American spiny rats (Rodentia, Echimyidae): the star-phylogeny hypothesis revisited|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=25|issue=3|pages=455–464|doi=10.1016/s1055-7903(02)00279-8|pmid=12450750|bibcode=2002MolPE..25..455L }}{{Cite journal|last1=Galewski|first1=Thomas|last2=Mauffrey|first2=Jean-François|last3=Leite|first3=Yuri L. R.|last4=Patton|first4=James L.|last5=Douzery|first5=Emmanuel J. P.|year=2005|title=Ecomorphological diversification among South American spiny rats (Rodentia; Echimyidae): a phylogenetic and chronological approach|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=34|issue=3|pages=601–615|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.015|pmid=15683932|bibcode=2005MolPE..34..601G }}{{Cite journal|last1=Upham|first1=Nathan S.|last2=Patterson|first2=Bruce D.|year=2012|title=Diversification and biogeography of the Neotropical caviomorph lineage Octodontoidea (Rodentia: Hystricognathi)|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=63|issue=2|pages=417–429|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2012.01.020|pmid=22327013|bibcode=2012MolPE..63..417U }}{{Cite journal|last1=Fabre|first1=Pierre-Henri|last2=Galewski|first2=Thomas|last3=Tilak|first3=Marie-ka|last4=Douzery|first4=Emmanuel J. P.|date=2013-03-01|title=Diversification of South American spiny rats (Echimyidae): a multigene phylogenetic approach|journal=Zoologica Scripta|language=en|volume=42|issue=2|pages=117–134|doi=10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00572.x|s2cid=83639441|issn=1463-6409}}{{Cite journal|last1=Loss|first1=Ana|last2=Moura|first2=Raquel T.|last3=Leite|first3=Yuri L. R.|date=2014|title=Unexpected phylogenetic relationships of the painted tree rat Callistomys pictus (Rodentia: Echimyidae)|url=http://www.naturezaonline.com.br/natureza/conteudo/pdf/05_LossACetal_132-136.pdf|journal=Natureza on Line|volume=12|pages=132–136|access-date=2017-11-10|archive-date=2021-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623231029/http://www.naturezaonline.com.br/natureza/conteudo/pdf/05_LossACetal_132-136.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal|last1=Fabre|first1=Pierre-Henri|last2=Vilstrup|first2=Julia T.|last3=Raghavan|first3=Maanasa|last4=Der Sarkissian|first4=Clio|last5=Willerslev|first5=Eske|last6=Douzery|first6=Emmanuel J. P.|last7=Orlando|first7=Ludovic|date=2014-07-01|title=Rodents of the Caribbean: origin and diversification of hutias unravelled by next-generation museomics|journal=Biology Letters|language=en|volume=10|issue=7|pages=20140266|doi=10.1098/rsbl.2014.0266|pmid=25115033|issn=1744-9561|pmc=4126619}}{{Cite book|title=Biology of caviomorph rodents: diversity and evolution|last1=Upham|first1=Nathan S.|last2=Patterson|first2=Bruce D.|publisher=SAREM Series A, Mammalogical Research — Sociedad Argentina para el Estudio de los Mamíferos|year=2015|editor-last1=Vassallo|editor-first1=Aldo Ivan|location=Buenos Aires|pages=63–120|chapter=Evolution of Caviomorph rodents: a complete phylogeny and timetree for living genera|editor-last2=Antenucci|editor-first2=Daniel}}{{Cite journal|last1=Fabre|first1=Pierre-Henri|last2=Upham|first2=Nathan S.|last3=Emmons|first3=Louise H.|last4=Justy|first4=Fabienne|last5=Leite|first5=Yuri L. R.|last6=Loss|first6=Ana Carolina|last7=Orlando|first7=Ludovic|last8=Tilak|first8=Marie-Ka|last9=Patterson|first9=Bruce D.|last10=Douzery|first10=Emmanuel J. P.|date=2017-03-01|title=Mitogenomic Phylogeny, Diversification, and Biogeography of South American Spiny Rats|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|volume=34|issue=3|pages=613–633|doi=10.1093/molbev/msw261|pmid=28025278|issn=0737-4038|doi-access=free}}
|align=center
|clades={{Cladogram of Echimyini genera}}
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q302748}}
Category:Mammals described in 1845
Category:Endemic mammals of Brazil
Category:Taxa named by Johann Andreas Wagner
{{Echimyidae-stub}}