"A recent article published in Nature made clear that the Degu isn't a rodent." =D

[Binky]

"Short said, a Degu is a little brown rodent. They look and behave like squirrels. If you have ever seen a Gerbil, just imagine him a little bigger, and you will have a picture of a Degu. Degus originate from the lowland areas of Chile where they live in large groups making their homes in rocks or hedges. They are considered an agricultural pest. Nests and storage for food are usually dug under the rocks. Degus in the wild can live up to 15 years, but in captivity they rarely become 10 years old. If a Degu has cataracts, he will not grow older than 6-7 years.

A recent article published in Nature made clear that the Degu isn't a rodent. DNA research of guinea pigs, which are of the same 'Octodon' family as Degus, made clear that Degus are more related to rabbits than rodents."

Degus by Heinjan Leliveld- care, caging, habitats and feeding

I was just randomly searching up Degu on Google and found this.

[Jennicat]

I'd be concerned about the veracity of the article... especially since guinea pigs are not in family Octodon, they're in family Caviidae with capybaras and maras. That, and Octodon is a genus, not a family. The family is Octodontidae.

[Amethystbelle]

That article has been going around a long time (remember seeing it at least 3 years ago) and i agree with the above post, at the moment degus are still classed as a rodent and until they officially become a Lagomorph then i will say they are rodents

[Skratikans]

Rodents belong in the order of Rodentia while lagomorphs belong in the order of Lagomorpha, which in turn is divided into two families that are the Ochotonidea (the pikas) and Leporidae (rabbits and hares)
generaly the way to tell a rodent from a lagomorph is that even though both have a diastema, the rodent has 2 upper incisors while a lagomorph has 4 (2in the front and 2 behind that), the rodent has a boney penis (unlike the lagomorph) and the male of a lagomorph has a scrotum that is in front of the penis unlike a rodent which has the scrotum placed behind the penis

degus dont have a scrotum since the testes are within the body but they do have 2 upper incisors
so thats why they are in the rodentia order..i consider them rodents until there is a unified scientific agreement that they are in the order of Lagomorpha


yeah i agree with jennicat

...where is the actual article anyway?

[Ravnos]

There has been discussion in the scientific community for at least a decade or more to move the entire Hystricomorphid (cavies, chinchillas, capybaras, agoutis, nutria, degus, etal) suborder out of the order Rodentia and into it's own order. I've glanced at several papers which argue for it and against it, but there hasn't been any definitive taxonomic agreement to warrant people to start claiming they're not rodents just yet.

[Animalgal]

Wow. You guys classify all this smarticul stuff. I sit here with my new glasses and think about degus. Degus. Rodents. Or. errrm...rabbits...guinea piggies... Okay xD

[mebri123]

Quote: Originally Posted by Animalgal Wow. You guys classify all this smarticul stuff. I sit here with my new glasses and think about degus. Degus. Rodents. Or. errrm...rabbits...guinea piggies... Okay xD

lol your cute