Editing Hamster (section)

==Classification==
[[File:Hamster Ruso.jpg|thumb|right|''P. sungorus''. The [[winter white dwarf hamster]]]]
[[File:Pearl Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamster - Front.jpg|thumb|A winter white dwarf hamster]]
[[File:Roborofskiohamster.jpg|thumb|right|''P. roborovski.'' The [[Roborovski hamster]]]]
[[File:Campbells dwarf.jpg|thumb|right|''P. campbelli''. The [[Campbell's dwarf hamster]]]]
Taxonomists generally disagree about the most appropriate placement of the subfamily [[Cricetinae]] within the superfamily [[Muroidea]]. Some place it in a family [[Cricetidae]] that also includes [[vole]]s, [[lemming]]s, and [[New World rats and mice]]; others group all these into a large family called [[Muridae]]. Their evolutionary history is recorded by 15 extinct fossil genera and extends back 11.2 million to 16.4 million years to the Middle [[Miocene]] Epoch in Europe and North Africa; in Asia it extends 6 million to 11 million years. Four of the seven living genera include extinct species. One extinct hamster of ''[[Cricetus]]'', for example, lived in North Africa during the Middle Miocene, but the only extant member of that genus is the European or common hamster of Eurasia.

*Subfamily '''Cricetinae'''
**Genus ''[[Allocricetulus]]''
***Species [[Mongolian hamster|''A. curtatus'']]—Mongolian hamster
***Species [[Eversmann's hamster|''A. eversmanni'']]—Eversmann's or Kazakh hamster
**Genus ''[[Cansumys]]''
***Species [[Gansu hamster|''C. canus'']]—Gansu hamster
**Genus ''[[Cricetulus]]''
***Species [[Chinese striped hamster|''C. barabensis'']], including "''C. pseudogriseus''" and "''C. obscurus''"—Chinese striped hamster, also called Chinese hamster; striped dwarf hamster
***Species [[Chinese hamster|''C. griseus'']]—Chinese (dwarf) hamster, also called rat hamster, sometimes considered a [[synonym (biology)|synonym]] of ''C. barabensis''
***Species [[Long-tailed dwarf hamster|''C. longicaudatus'']]—long-tailed dwarf hamster
***Species [[Sokolov's dwarf hamster|''C. sokolovi'']]—Sokolov's dwarf hamster
**Genus ''[[Cricetus]]''
***Species [[European hamster|''C. cricetus'']]—European hamster, also called common hamster or black-bellied field hamster
**Genus ''[[Mesocricetus]]''—golden hamsters
***Species [[Golden hamster|''M. auratus'']]—golden or Syrian hamster
***Species [[Turkish hamster|''M. brandti'']]—Turkish hamster, also called [[Johann Friedrich von Brandt|Brandt]]'s hamster; Azerbaijani hamster
***Species [[Romanian hamster|''M. newtoni'']]—Romanian hamster
***Species [[Ciscaucasian hamster|''M. raddei'']]—Ciscaucasian hamster
**Genus ''[[Nothocricetulus]]'' - grey dwarf hamster
***Species [[Grey dwarf hamster|''N. migratorius'']]—grey dwarf hamster, Armenian hamster, migratory grey hamster; grey hamster; migratory hamster
**Genus ''[[Phodopus]]''—dwarf hamsters
***Species [[Campbell's dwarf hamster|''P. campbelli'']]—Campbell's dwarf hamster
***Species [[Roborovski dwarf hamster|''P. roborovskii'']]—Roborovski hamster
***Species [[Winter white dwarf hamster|''P. sungorus'']]—Djungarian hamster or winter-white Russian dwarf hamster
**Genus ''[[Tscherskia]]''
***Species [[Greater long-tailed hamster|''T. triton'']]—greater long-tailed hamster, also called Korean hamster
**Genus ''[[Urocricetus]]''
***Species ''[[Ladakh dwarf hamster|U. alticola]]'' - Ladakh dwarf hamster
***Species ''[[Kam dwarf hamster|U. kamensis]]'' - Kam dwarf hamster

===Relationships among hamster species===
[[File:Hamster clades.svg|thumb|right|Hamster clades]]
Neumann ''et al.'' (2006) conducted a [[molecular phylogeny|molecular phylogenetic]] analysis of 12 of the above 17 species using [[DNA sequence]] from three [[gene]]s: [[12S rRNA]], [[cytochrome b]], and [[von Willebrand factor]]. They uncovered the following relationships:<ref name=neu/>

====''Phodopus'' group====
The genus ''Phodopus'' was found to represent the earliest split among hamsters. Their analysis included both species. The results of another study<ref name=leb2003/> suggest ''Urocricetus kamensis'' and the related ''U. alticola'' belong to either this ''Phodopus'' group or hold a similar basal position.<ref name="Urocricetus">{{cite journal |last1=Lebedev |first1=V. S. |last2=Bannikova |first2=A. A. |last3=Neumann |first3=K. |last4=Ushakova |first4=M. V. |last5=Ivanova |first5=N. V. |last6=Surov |first6=A. V. |title=Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of dwarf hamsters ''Cricetulus'' Milne-Edwards, 1867 (Cricetidae, Rodentia): description of a new genus and reinstatement of another |journal=Zootaxa |date=26 February 2018 |volume=4387 |issue=2 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4387.2.5 |url=https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4387.2.5 |access-date=9 December 2024}}</ref>

====''Mesocricetus'' group====
The genus ''Mesocricetus'' also forms a [[clade]]. Their analysis included all four species, with ''M. auratus'' and ''M. raddei'' forming one subclade and ''M. brandti'' and ''M. newtoni'' another.

====Remaining genera====
The remaining genera of hamsters formed a third major clade. Two of the three sampled species within ''Cricetulus'' represent the earliest split. This clade contains ''C. barabensis'' (and presumably the related ''C. sokolovi'') and ''C. longicaudatus''.

====Miscellaneous====
The remaining clade contains members of ''Allocricetulus'', ''Tscherskia'', ''Cricetus'', and ''C. migratorius''. ''Allocricetulus'' and ''Cricetus'' were [[sister taxa]]. ''Cricetulus migratorius'' was their next closest relative, and ''Tscherskia'' was basal.