Figure 5.

Percentage of hypsodont species of extant sigmodontine rodents at 75–77 modern South American localities vs. mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, seasonal temperature amplitude, and mean temperature of the coldest month. Meterological data from the nearest agrometeorological station (45). Species scored as hypsodont if cheek tooth crown height is greater than in typical oryzomyins (46, 47). Of 197 species of Sigmodontinae, 141 species could be classified, of which 24 are hypsodont.