spiny rat en · NOUN
Meanings
-
Any of certain caviomorph rodents of the family Echimyidae of Neotropical spiny rats, especially of genus Proechimys, that resemble rats and have stiff, pointed hairs, or spines.
Members of the important Neotropical family Echimyidae, which includes a viety of roughly rat-sized rodents, are called spiny rats.[…]Spiny rats are widely distributed in the Neotropics, occurring from Nicaragua southward through the northern half of South America to Paraguay and south-eastern Brazil.
2011, Terry A. Vaughan, James M. Ryan, Nicholas J. Czaplewski, Mammalogy, page 232:Spiny rats, Proechimys semispinosus, are rodents weighing up to 500 g which eat fruits and seeds that have fallen to the forest floor. In Lutz catchment, a spiny rat's territory is three-fifths as wide as an agouti's (Smythe et al. 1982).
1999, Egbert Giles Leigh Jr., Tropical Forest Ecology : A View from Barro Colorado Island, page 28:
- Any of certain genera of family Muridae of rodents: ▸ Any member of two species of genus Rattus.
- Any of certain genera of family Muridae of rodents: ▸ Any member of the species of genus Maxomys (sometimes considered a subgenus of Rattus).
- Any of certain genera of family Muridae of rodents: ▸ A Ryukyu spiny rats (Tokudaia).
- Any of certain genera of family Muridae of rodents: ▸ A Sulawesi spiny rats (Echiothrix).
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| spiny rats | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
large spiny rat · Sulawesi spiny rat · large New Guinea spiny rat · small spiny rat · Central Sulawesi spiny rat · Mindanao spiny rat
Relateds
spiny long-footed rat · spiny mouse · spiny tree-rat · tenrec
Synonyms
Translations (13)
fi aasianokarotta (rodent of the genus Maxomys) · fr échinomyie (rodent of the family Echimyidae) · it tokudaia (rodent of the genus Tokudaia) · fi amerikanpiikkirotta (rodent of the family Echimyidae) · it muridi (rodent of the genus Tokudaia) · fi japaninokahiiri (rodent of the genus Tokudaia) · it echiothrix (rodent of the genus Echiothrix) · fi sulawesinokarotta (rodent of the genus Echiothrix) · it echimiidi (rodent of the family Echimyidae) · fi piikkirotta (rodent of the family Echimyidae) · fi idänokarotta (rodent of the genus Maxomys) · it maxomys (rodent of the genus Maxomys) · it muridi (rodent of the genus Echiothrix)