Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae Author Wilson, Don E. Author Reeder, DeeAnn text 2005 The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2 955 1189 book chapter 0-8018-8221-4 10.5281/zenodo.7316535 Melanomys Thomas 1902 Melanomys Thomas 1902 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 10: 248 . Type Species: Oryzomys phaeopus Thomas 1894 Species and subspecies: 3 species: Species Melanomys caliginosus (Tomes 1860) Species Melanomys robustulus Thomas 1914 Species Melanomys zunigae Sanborn 1949 Discussion: Oryzomyini . Usually arranged as a subgenus of Oryzomys since Goldman’s (1918) revision (e.g., Cabrera, 1961; Ellerman, 1941 ; Hall, 1981 ; Reig, 1986 ; Tate, 1932e ). J. A. Allen (1913) , however, provided morphological criteria, as contrasted to the type species (= Mus palustris ) of Oryzomys , defending his retention of Melanomys as a genus, as did Gyldenstolpe (1932) ; its synonymy in Oryzomys proper deserves more rigorous, character-based, phylogenetic substantiation. The taxon has not been revised; the three nominal species listed stem from Cabrera (1961), who acknowledged his solely literature-based interpretation as provisional; Allen (1913) had recognized nine and Gyldenstolpe (1932) listed eight. A morphologically distinctive and distributionally circumscribed taxon ripe for revisionary and biogeographic study.