Meaning of hystricognath | Babel Free

Definitions

Any member of the infraorder Hystricognathi of rodents, distinguished from other rodents by the bone structure of their skulls.

Examples

“The New World hystricognath rodents (= caviomorphs) today represent one of the most diverse and widespread suborders among the over 800 mammal species of South America (Woods, 1982).”

“The situation is similar with respect to rodents, given that the earliest undisputed hystricognaths are from the Oligocene of Pakistan and Egypt (ca. 35Ma), with the possibility of a Middle Eocene origin for the group (Bryant and McKenna 1995; Marivaux et al. 2002).”

“The hystricognaths include several lines that radiated in Africa and South America in the Oligocene and Miocene.[…]The largest hystricognath group is the Caviomorpha, the South American guinea pigs, capybaras, chinchillas and New World porcupines.”

CEFR level