Trinidad spiny rat

The Trinidad spiny rat (Proechimys trinitatis^[2][3]) is a species of rodent in the family Echimyidae. It is found in Trinidad and Tobago and northern Venezuela.

Trinidad spiny rat
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Echimyidae
Subfamily:	Echimyinae
Tribe:	Myocastorini
Genus:	Proechimys
Species:	P. trinitatis
Binomial name
Proechimys trinitatis (J. A. Allen & Chapman, 1893)

Phylogeny

Morphological characters and mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences showed that P. trinitatus belongs to the so-called trinitatus group of Proechimys species, and shares closer phylogenetic affinities with the other members of this clade: P. mincae, P. guairae, 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]