Rice rats
Oryzomys palustris
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Superfamily: Muroidea Family: Cricetidae Subfamily: Sigmodontinae Tribe: Oryzomyini in part
Genera
Oryzomys Nesoryzomys Oecomys Melanomys Oligoryzomys Microryzomys

The rice rats are various species in the Oryzomyini tribe of New World rats. When trying to give the rice rats a monophyletic meaning, the term is usually used to refer to the species of the Oryzomys genus. However species from other genera in the tribe, including Nesoryzomys (e.g. the James Rice Rat), Oecomys (the arboreal rice rats), Melanomys (e.g. the Dusky Rice Rat), Oligoryzomys (the pygmy rice rats) and Microryzomys (the small rice rats) have "rice rat" in their common names so it is usual now to think of the rice rats as a vernacular term for a paraphyletic grouping of rats found in southern North America, Central and South America. For details, see the articles about each genus.

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