Guaira spiny rat

The Guaira spiny-rat (Proechimys guairae) is a species of rodent in the family Echimyidae.^[2] It is endemic to Venezuela. It is commonly referred to as 'casiragua' to avoid confusion with true rats (Muroidea)^[3]

Guaira spiny-rat
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Echimyidae
Tribe:	Myocastorini
Genus:	Proechimys
Species:	P. guairae
Binomial name
Proechimys guairae Thomas, 1901

Phylogeny

Morphological characters and mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences showed that P. guairae belongs to the so-called trinitatus group of Proechimys species, and shares closer phylogenetic affinities with the other members of this clade: P. trinitatus, P. mincae, P. poliopus, P. magdalenae, P. chrysaeolus, P. urichi, and P. hoplomyoides.^[4][5][6][7]

Species-level cladogram of the genus Proechimys.

Myocastorini     Hoplomys     Hoplomys gymnurus   Proechimys     Proechimys canicollis (Colombian spiny rat)   Proechimys decumanus (Pacific spiny rat)   Proechimys echinothrix (Stiff-spine spiny rat)   Proechimys simonsi (Simon's spiny rat)   group gardneri     Proechimys kulinae (Kulina spiny rat)   Proechimys gardneri (Gardner's spiny rat)   Proechimys pattoni (Patton's spiny rat)   group semispinosus     Proechimys gorgonae   Proechimys oconnelli (O'Connell's spiny rat)   Proechimys semispinosus (Tome's spiny rat)   group guyannensis     Proechimys boimensis   Proechimys guyannensis (Guyenne spiny rat)   Proechimys oris   Proechimys roberti (Roberto's spiny rat)   group longicaudatus     Proechimys cuvieri (Cuvier's spiny rat)   Proechimys brevicauda (Short-tailed spiny rat)   Proechimys gularis   Proechimys longicaudatus (Long-tailed spiny rat)   group goeldii     Proechimys amphichoricus   Proechimys goeldii (Goeldi's spiny rat)   Proechimys hyleae   Proechimys quadruplicatus (Napo spiny rat)   Proechimys steerei (Steere's spiny rat)   group trinitatus     Proechimys chrysaeolus (Boyacá spiny rat)   Proechimys guairae (Guaira spiny rat)   Proechimys hoplomyoides (Guyanan spiny rat)   Proechimys magdalenae (Magdalena spiny rat)   Proechimys mincae (Minca spiny rat)   Proechimys poliopus (Gray-footed spiny rat)   Proechimys trinitatus (Trinidad spiny rat)   Proechimys urichi (Sucre spiny rat)

The cladogram has been reconstructed from morphological characters and mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome b) sequences.[4][5][6][7]