Petromuridae

{{Short description|Family of rodents}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|fossil_range = Oligocene - Recent

{{Fossil range|23.7|0}}

|image = Dassie Rat, crop.jpg

|image_caption =

|taxon = Petromuridae

|authority = Tullberg, 1899

|subdivision_ranks = Genera

|subdivision =

• Petromus
• †Apodecter
• †Tufamys

}}

Petromuridae is a family of hystricognath rodents that contains the dassie rat (Petromus typicus) of southwestern Africa, the only extant member of this group.

The genus Petromus contains a couple of extinct species,{{cite journal |last1=Sénégas |first1=F. |title=A New Species of Petromus (Rodentia, Hystricognatha, Petromuridae) from the Early Pliocene of South Africa and Its Paleoenvironmental Implications |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |date=2004 |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=757–763 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0757:ANSOPR]2.0.CO;2 |jstor=4524764 |s2cid=129787889 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4524764}} and additionally there are fossil genera formerly of the family Thryonomyidae that were found to belong to this family instead; Apodecter, Tufamys and two species of Paraphiomys (australis and roessneri) which have yet to be placed in their own genus.{{cite journal |last1=Sallam |first1=H.M. |last2=Seiffert |first2=E.R. |title=Revision of Oligocene 'Paraphiomys' and an origin for crown Thryonomyoidea (Rodentia: Hystricognathi: Phiomorpha) near the Oligocene–Miocene boundary in Africa |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |date=2019 |volume=190 |issue=1 |pages=352–371 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz148 |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/190/1/352/5691033}}