Tympanoctomys

Tympanoctomys is a genus of rodent in the family Octodontidae. There are three extant species in the genus: T. barrerae,^[2] T. kirchnerorum^[3] and T. loschalchalerosorum.^[4] T. loschalchalerosorum was formerly considered to be monotypic within the genus Salinoctomys, but has been shown by genetic analysis to nest within the variation of T. barrerae.^[4]

Tympanoctomys
Plains viscacha rat, Tympanoctomys barrerae
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Octodontidae
Genus:	Tympanoctomys Yepes, 1942[1]
Type species
Octomys barrerae B. Lawrence, 1941
Species
T. barrerae (B. Lawrence, 1941)  T. kirchnerorum Teta et al., 2014  T. loschalchalerosorum Mares, Braun, Barquez & Diaz, 2000  †T. cordubensis

All species are endemic to central western Argentina, where the genus has a fragmented range. Their natural habitat is desert scrubland, dunes and salt flats, where they eat halophyte plants. They are solitary, nocturnal rodents that construct large mounds with complex burrows.^[3]

References

1. Lawrence, B. (1941), "A new species of Octomys from Argentina", Proceedings of the New England Zoological Club, 18: 43–46.
2. Woods, C.A.; Kilpatrick, C.W. (2005). "Infraorder Hystricognathi". 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. 1573. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
3. Pablo Teta; Ulyses F. J. Pardiñas; Daniel E. Udrizar Sauthier & Milton H. Gallardo (2014), "A new species of the tetraploid vizcacha rat Tympanoctomys (Caviomorpha, Octodontidae) from central Patagonia, Argentina", Journal of Mammalogy, 95 (1): 60–71, doi:10.1644/13-MAMM-A-160, hdl:11336/22721
4. Suárez-Villota, E. Y.; González-Wevar, C. A.; Gallardo, M. H.; Vásquez, R. A.; Poulin, E. (December 2016). "Filling phylogenetic gaps and the biogeographic relationships of the Octodontidae (Mammalia: Hystricognathi)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 105: 96–101. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.08.015. hdl:10533/227937.