Echimys Temporal range: Pleistocene to Recent
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Echimys chrysurus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Echimyidae |
Subfamily: | Echimyinae |
Tribe: | Echimyini |
Genus: | Echimys F. Cuvier, 1809[1] |
Type species | |
Myoxus chrysurus Zimmermann, 1780
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Species | |
Synonyms | |
Echinomys Wagner, 1840[2] |
Echimys is a genus of the spiny rats family, the Echimyidae.[1][3] Members of this genus are collectively called spiny tree-rats.
The genus name Echimys, and also its synonym Echinomys,[2] derive from the two Ancient Greek words ἐχῖνος (ekhînos), meaning "hedgehog", and μῦς (mûs), meaning "mouse, rat".[4][5]