Resumen de Definition and diagnosis of a new tribe of sigmodontine rodents (cricetidaesigmodontinae), and a revised classification of the subfamily

Guillermo D'Elía, Ulyses F. J. Pardiñas, Pablo Teta, James L Patton

• A new tribe of sigmodontine rodents is formally defined and diagnosed. The tribe contains the extant genera Abrothrix (including Chroeomys), Chelemys, Geoxus, Pearsonomys, and Notiomys, a group of taxa distributed in the central and southern Andes and lowlands both east and west of the cordillera. The new tribe presents a unique combination of characters including nasals and premaxilla usually projected anterior to the incisors, moderately trumpeted; zygomatic plate with upper free border reduced or obsolete; and third upper molar reduced and sub-cylindrical in out-line with an internal ring-like enamel fossette. Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that Abrothrix is sister to a clade containing the remaining genera of the new tribe.