Their zygomatic arch is reduced with a slightly concave dorsal margin, and the jugal bone is ventrally expanded with much reduced, scarcely salient inferior process.[1]
Molecular signatures
At the protein level, one amino acid replacement from leucine to proline yields a shared derived character state that is diagnostic for defining the Euryzygomatomyinae: the amino-acid proline at position homologous to site 294 of the human GHR.[2]
Phylogeny
Within Euryzygomatomyinae, Clyomys is the sister group to Euryzygomatomys. In turn, these two fossorial genera are the sister group to the terrestrial Trinomys.
In the phylogeny of the family Echimyidae, Euryzygomatomyinae is the sister group to a large assemblage comprising Carterodon and the family Capromyidae.[1] These phylogenetic relationships, based on the comparison of complete mitochondrial DNA genomes and nuclear DNA exons, disagree with analyses of craniodental characters which cluster together the fossorial genera Clyomys, Euryzygomatomys and Carterodon.[3][4]
Genus-level cladogram of the Euryzygomatomyinae with their relation to Carterodon and Capromyidae.
This cladogram has been reconstructed from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA characters.[5][6][7][8][9][1] According to this phylogenetic tree, the fossorial genera Euryzygomatomys, Clyomys, and Carterodon constitute a polyphyletic assemblage (red bar).
^Galewski, Thomas; Mauffrey, Jean-François; Leite, Yuri L. R.; Patton, James L.; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (2005). "Ecomorphological diversification among South American spiny rats (Rodentia; Echimyidae): a phylogenetic and chronological approach". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 34 (3): 601–615. Bibcode:2005MolPE..34..601G. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.015. PMID15683932.
^Upham, Nathan S.; Patterson, Bruce D. (2012). "Diversification and biogeography of the Neotropical caviomorph lineage Octodontoidea (Rodentia: Hystricognathi)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 63 (2): 417–429. Bibcode:2012MolPE..63..417U. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.01.020. PMID22327013.
^Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Galewski, Thomas; Tilak, Marie-ka; Douzery, Emmanuel J. P. (2013-03-01). "Diversification of South American spiny rats (Echimyidae): a multigene phylogenetic approach". Zoologica Scripta. 42 (2): 117–134. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00572.x. ISSN1463-6409. S2CID83639441.
^Upham, Nathan S.; Patterson, Bruce D. (2015). "Evolution of Caviomorph rodents: a complete phylogeny and timetree for living genera". In Vassallo, Aldo Ivan; Antenucci, Daniel (eds.). Biology of caviomorph rodents: diversity and evolution. Buenos Aires: SAREM Series A, Mammalogical Research — Sociedad Argentina para el Estudio de los Mamíferos. pp. 63–120.