Cotton rat

Cotton rats; Temporal range: Early Pliocene - Recent
	Hispid cotton rat
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Sigmodontinae
Tribe:	Sigmodontini ; Wagner, 1843
Genus:	Sigmodon ; Say & Ord, 1825
Species
	Sigmodon alleni; Sigmodon alstoni; Sigmodon arizonae; Sigmodon fulviventer; Sigmodon hirsutus; Sigmodon hispidus; Sigmodon inopinatus; Sigmodon leucotis; Sigmodon mascotensis; Sigmodon ochrognathus; Sigmodon peruanus; Sigmodon planifrons; Sigmodon toltecus; Sigmodon zanjonensis

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A cotton rat is any member of the rodent genus Sigmodon. They are called cotton rats because they build their nests out of cotton, and can damage cotton crops. Cotton rats have small ears and dark coats, and are found in North and South America. Members of this genus are distributed in the Southwestern USA, Mexico, Central America and South American countries of: Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Guyana and Suriname. Many of the species are found in Mexico.

They are primarily herbivores. The molars of cotton rats are S-shaped when viewed from above. The genus name literally means S-tooth.

Sigmodon hispidus was the first model organism to be used in polio research.

Classification

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