Heliscomyidae
| Heliscomyidae Temporal range: Middle Eocene–Early Miocene |
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| Fossil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Castorimorpha |
| Superfamily: | Geomyoidea |
| Family: |
†Heliscomyidae Korth, Wahlert, and Emry, 1991 |
| Genera | |
†Apletotomeus
Heliscomys
Passaliscomys
Tylionomys
Heliscomyidae is a family of extinct rodents from the mid-Tertiary of North America related to pocket gophers (family Geomyidae) and kangaroo rats and their relatives (family Heteromyidae). The family contains four genera, Apletotomeus, Heliscomys, Passaliscomys, and Tylionomys (Korth et al., 1991; Korth and Eaton, 2004; Korth and Branciforte, 2007). McKenna and Bell (1997) placed the first two genera in synonymy, with Heliscomys the senior synonym.
Heliscomyids are distinguished from other geomyoid rodents by several characteristics of the skull including fusion of three cranial , elongation of the incisive foramina, and an unusual position of the mental foramen (Korth et al., 1991).
Heliscomyidae is a member of the clade Geomyoidea, a group of rodents that also includes the families †Eomyidae, †Florentiamyidae, Heteromyidae, and Geomyidae. The following cladogram showing interrelationships among geomyoid families follows Korth et al. (1991):
†Heliscomyidae
Geomyidae (pocket gophers)
Heteromyidae (kangaroo rats and mice, pocket mice)
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