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Palaeanodonta

Extinct clade of mammals From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Palaeanodonta ("ancient toothless animals") is an extinct order of placental mammals in the clade Pholidotamorpha. They were insectivorous (myrmecophagous), fossorial or semifossorial, and lived from the middle Paleocene to early Oligocene in North America, Europe and Asia.[5][7][8] While the taxonomic grouping of Palaeanodonta has been debated,[9] it is widely thought that they are a sister group to pangolins.[10][11][7][12]

Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Infraclass:Placentalia
Mirorder:Ferae
Quick facts Scientific classification, Families and genera ...
Palaeanodonta
Temporal range: 62.4–30.9 Ma
Middle Paleocene – Early Oligocene
From top to bottom: Escavadodon zygus, Ernanodon antelios, Xenocranium pileorivale and Metacheiromys marshi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Mirorder: Ferae
Clade: Pholidotamorpha
Order: †Palaeanodonta
Matthew, 1918[1]
Families and genera
[see classification]
Synonyms
list of synonyms:
  • Ernodonta (Ding, 1987)[2]
  • Ernanodonta (Ding, 1987)
  • Palaeanodontidae (Carroll, 1988)[3]
  • Palaeanodontiformes (Kinman, 1994) [4]
  • Palaenodonta (Rose, 2008)[5]
  • Palaenodontina (Pearse, 1936)[6]
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Anatomy

Skull

Palaeanodonts generally have low and caudally-broad skulls, with notable lambdoid crests and inflated bullae and squamosals.[5]

Teeth

Despite the name of the group and contrary to their pangolin relatives, palaeanodonts are known to have had teeth.[13][5][12] Early palaeanodonts retained minimal tribosphenic post-canines while later species had peglike or otherwise reduced molar crowns.[13][5][12] Many also had large, characteristic cuspids.[13][12]

Classification and phylogeny

More information Former classification:, Current classification: ...
Former classification:Current classification:
  • Order: †Palaeanodonta (Matthew, 1918) (stem-pangolins)
    • Family: †Epoicotheriidae (paraphyletic family) (Simpson, 1927)
      • Genus: †Alocodontulum (Rose, 1978)
        • †Alocodontulum atopum (Rose, 1977)
      • Genus: †Amelotabes (Rose, 1978)
        • †Amelotabes simpsoni (Rose, 1978)
      • Genus: †Auroratherium (Tong & Wang, 1997)
        • †Auroratherium sinense (Tong & Wang, 1997)
      • Genus: †Dipassalus (Rose, 1991)
        • †Dipassalus oryctes (Rose, 1991)
      • Genus: †Myrmecoboides (Gidley, 1915)
        • †Myrmecoboides arenarius (Secord, 2008)
        • †Myrmecoboides montanensis (Gidley, 1915)
      • Genus: †Tubulodon (Jepsen, 1932)
        • †Tubulodon taylori (Jepsen, 1932)
      • Subfamily: †Epoicotheriinae (paraphyletic subfamily) (Simpson, 1927)
        • Genus: †Pentapassalus (Gazin, 1952)
          • †Pentapassalus pearcei (Gazin, 1952)
          • †Pentapassalus woodi (Guthrie, 1967)
        • Genus: †Tetrapassalus (Simpson, 1959)
          • †Tetrapassalus mckennai (Simpson, 1959)
          • †Tetrapassalus proius (West, 1973)
          • †Tetrapassalus sp. A [AMNH 10215] (Rose, 1978)
          • †Tetrapassalus sp. B (Robinson, 1963)
        • (unranked): †Epoicotherium/Xenocranium clade
          • Genus: †Epoicotherium (Simpson, 1927)
            • †Epoicotherium unicum (Douglass, 1905)
          • Genus: †Molaetherium (Storch & Rummel, 1999)
            • †Molaetherium heissigi (Storch & Rummel, 1999)
          • Genus: †Xenocranium (Colbert, 1942)
            • †Xenocranium pileorivale (Colbert, 1942)
    • Family: †Ernanodontidae (Ting, 1979)
      • Genus: †Asiabradypus (Nessov, 1987)
        • †Asiabradypus incompositus (Nessov, 1987)
      • Genus: †Ernanodon (Ting, 1979)
        • †Ernanodon antelios (Ting, 1979)
    • Family: †Escavadodontidae (Rose & Lucas, 2000)
      • Genus: †Escavadodon (Rose & Lucas, 2000)
        • †Escavadodon zygus (Rose & Lucas, 2000)
    • Family: †Metacheiromyidae (paraphyletic family)[8] (Wortman, 1903)
      • Genus: †Brachianodon (Gunnell & Gingerich, 1993)
        • †Brachianodon westorum (Gunnell & Gingerich, 1993)
      • Genus: †Mylanodon (Secord, 2002)
        • †Mylanodon rosei (Secord, 2002)
      • Subfamily: †Metacheiromyinae (paraphyletic subfamily)[8] (Wortman, 1903)
        • Genus: †Metacheiromys (Wortman, 1903)
          • †Metacheiromys dasypus (Osborn, 1904)
          • †Metacheiromys marshi (Wortman, 1903)
        • Genus: †Palaeanodon (Matthew, 1918)
          • †Palaeanodon ignavus (Matthew, 1918)
          • †Palaeanodon nievelti (Gingerich, 1989)
          • †Palaeanodon parvulus (Matthew, 1918)
          • †Palaeanodon sp. [Le Quesnoy] (Gheerbrant, 2005)
      • Subfamily: †Propalaeanodontinae (Schoch, 1984)
        • Genus: †Propalaeanodon (Rose, 1979)
          • †Palaeanodon parvulus (Rose, 1979)
    • Incertae sedis:
      • Genus: †Arcticanodon (Rose, 2004)
        • †Arcticanodon dawsonae (Rose, 2004)
      • Genus: †Melaniella (Fox, 1984)
        • †Melaniella timosa (Fox, 1984)
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Phylogeny

More information Based on Rose (2000.) study:, Based on Rose (2005.) study: ...
Cladogram of phylogeny within order Palaeanodonta
Based on Rose (2000.) study:[13]Based on Rose (2005.) study:[11]Based on Rose (2008.) study:[5]
 †Leptictida 

†Leptictidae

Erinaceomorpha

 †Pantolesta 

†Pantolestidae

 Pholidota 
 †Palaeanodonta 
 †Escavadodontidae 

†Escavadodon

other Palaeanodonta

 sensu lato 
 †Ernanodonta 

†Ernanodontidae

 †Pantolesta 

†Pantolestidae

 Pholidota 
 sensu lato 
†Palaeanodonta
 †Pantolesta 

†Pantolestidae

 †Palaeanodonta 

†Amelotabes

†Epoicotherium

†Xenocranium

†Tetrapassalus

†Dipassalus

†Alocodontulum

†Pentapassalus

†Tubulodon

 ? 

†Arcticanodon

†Metacheiromyidae

†Propalaeanodon

†Mylanodon

†Brachianodon

†Metacheiromys

†Palaeanodon
Close
More information Based on Kondrashov & Agadjanian (2012.) study:, Based on Hooker (2013.) study: ...
Based on Kondrashov & Agadjanian (2012.) study:[8]Based on Hooker (2013.) study:[14]Based on Rose (2026.) study:[15]
 Carnivora 

Nandinia

 Pholidotamorpha 

Pholidota (sensu stricto)

 †Palaeanodonta 

†Palaeanodon

 (Pholidota [sensu lato]) 

outhgroup

†Pantolesta

 †Palaeanodonta 

†Escavadodon

†Myrmecoboides

†Alocodontulum

†Amelotabes

outhgroup

 Pholidotamorpha 

Pholidota (sensu stricto)

†Euromanis

†Afredentata

 †Palaeanodonta 
 †Metacheiromyidae 

†Metacheiromys

†Palaeanodon

 (Pholidota [sensu lato]) 
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See also

References

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