Heteromys is a genus of rodents in the family Heteromyidae,[1] commonly known as spiny pocket mice. It is the only extant genus in the subfamily Heteromyinae which also includes the extinct genera Diprionomys and Metaliomys.[2] Heteromys was recently enlarged by inclusion of the members of formerly recognized heteromyine genus Liomys, which was found to be paraphyletic.[3]
Heteromyines are distributed from southern Texas to Ecuador and Venezuela, and include all but one of the castorimorph species of South America. Like all of South America's other non-caviomorph rodents, they arrived in the continent relatively recently as part of the Great American Interchange. They inhabit mainly forests; some are also found in scrubland.