Subfamily Deomyinae

This family includes spiny mice. In Jordan, two species of spiny mice are known: Acomys dimidiatus and Acomys russatus (Wilson & Reeder, 2005) . The systematics of this problematic genus was revised by several authors. Although Denys et al. (1992) showed that Acomys is undoubtedly a murine based on dental morphology, others, suggested that Acomys is more related to gerbils ( Gerbillinae) than to true mice ( Murinae) based on molecular data (Chevret et al., 1993). Verheyem et al. (1995) suggested the placement of species of the genus Acomys within the proposed group “Acomyines”. Furthermore, Chevret & Hänni (1994) indicated that Acomys cannot be considered a murine based on molecular and biochemical evidence. For consistency purposes, we apt to follow Wilson & Reeder (2005).