Scapteromys

Scapteromys; Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Recent
	Scapteromys aquaticus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Placentalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Sigmodontinae
Tribe:	Akodontini
Genus:	Scapteromys; Waterhouse, 1837
Type species
	Mus tumidus; Waterhouse, 1837
Species
	Scapteromys aquaticus; Scapteromys meridionalis; Scapteromys tumidus

Scapteromys is a genus of South American rodents in the tribe Akodontini of family Cricetidae. Three species are known, found in northern Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.^[1]^[2] They are as follows:

Argentine swamp rat (Scapteromys aquaticus)
Plateau swamp rat (Scapteromys meridionalis)
Waterhouse's swamp rat (Scapteromys tumidus)

Species are semiaquatic, living in and near marshes and other bodies of water. They reach a body length of 15 to 20 cm and a tail length of 13–17 cm, and weigh 110-200 g. Fur color is dark gray on top and light gray on the underside. They are primarily crepuscular and nocturnal. Their diet consists mainly of insects; they also consume other invertebrates and plant material.

The three species differ in karyotype, with aquaticus having 2n = 32, tumidus 2n = 24^[1] and meridionalis 2n = 34/36.^[2]

References

1 2 Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1172. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
1 2 Quintela, F.M.; Goncalves, G.L.; Althoff, S.L.; Sbalqueiro, I.J.; Oliveira, L.F.B.; de Freitas, T.R.O. (2014). "A new species of swamp rat of the genus Scapteromys Waterhouse, 1837 (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae) endemic to Araucaria angustifolia forest in southern Brazil". Zootaxa. 3811 (2): 207–225. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3811.2.3. PMID 24943159.