What is "pouched rat"

Gopher \Go"pher\, n. [F. gaufre waffle, honeycomb. See Gauffer.] (Zo["o]l.)

1. One of several North American burrowing rodents of the genera Geomys and Thomomys, of the family Geomyid[ae]; -- called also pocket gopher and pouched rat. See Pocket gopher, and Tucan.

   Note: The name was originally given by French settlers to many burrowing rodents, from their honeycombing the earth.

2. One of several western American species of the genus Spermophilus, of the family Sciurid[ae]; as, the gray gopher ( Spermophilus Franklini) and the striped gopher ( S. tridecemlineatus); -- called also striped prairie squirrel, leopard marmot, and leopard spermophile. See Spermophile.

3. A large land tortoise ( Testudo Carilina) of the Southern United States, which makes extensive burrows.

4. A large burrowing snake ( Spilotes Couperi) of the Southern United States.

   Gopher drift (Mining), an irregular prospecting drift, following or seeking the ore without regard to regular grade or section.
   --Raymond.

n. burrowing rodent of the family Geomyidae having large external cheek pouches; of Central America and southwestern North America [syn: gopher, pocket gopher]

Pouched rats are a group of African rodents in the subfamily Cricetomyinae. They are members of the family Nesomyidae, which contains other African muroids such as climbing mice, Malagasy mice, and the white-tailed rat. All nesomyids are in the superfamily Muroidea, a large and complex clade containing 1/4 of all mammal species. Sometimes the pouched rats are placed in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea.

Pouched rats are found throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa with the exception of southern Africa. They are characterized by having large cheek pouches and a distinctive molar morphology. The molars are very similar to the type seen in the subfamily Murinae, but pouched rats probably evolved this similarity through convergent evolution.

There are three very different genera of pouched rats. The giant pouched rat is notable for being the largest of the muroids. A giant pouched rat was also implicated as a carrier in a small outbreak of monkeypox in the USA.

The subfamily Cricetomyinae contains three genera and eight species.