Palaeoryctidae

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Palaeoryctidae
Temporal range: 70.0–42.0  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Late Cretaceous - Middle Eocene
Palaeoryctes jepseni.jpg
Palaeoryctes jepseni
lower jaw fragment
Aceroryctes dulcis.jpg
Aceroryctes dulcis
lower jaw fragment
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Clade: Eutheria
Infraclass: Placentalia (?)
Order: Palaeoryctida
Averianov, 2003 [1]
Family: Palaeoryctidae
Winge, 1917 [2]
Type genus
Palaeoryctes
Matthew, 1913
Genera
Synonyms
synonyms of family:
  • Palaeoryctae (Winge, 1917)
  • Palaeoryctinae (Van Valen, 1966) [3]
  • Palaeoryctoidea (Van Valen, 1966)

Palaeoryctidae ("ancient diggers") is an extinct family of non-specialized eutherian mammals from extinct order Palaeoryctida, that lived in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa from the late Cretaceous to the middle Eocene. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Description

From a near-complete skull of the genus Palaeoryctes found in New Mexico, it is known that palaeoryctids were small, shrew-like insectivores with an elongated snout similar to that of the leptictids. However, in contrast to the latter, little is known about palaeoryctids' postcranial anatomy (the skeleton without the skull). [9] A 2024 study found shared cranial details between palaeoryctids and leptictids, suggesting a possible close relationship, plesiomorphic retentions, or convergent acquisitions. [10] Where the leptictids were short-lived, the palaeoryctids seem to have been ancestors of Eocene species. While their dental morphology still indicate a mostly insectivorous diet, it, to some extent, also relate to Eocene carnivores such as creodonts. [9]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

History of phylogeny

The relationship between this archaic group and other insectivorous mammals is uncertain. [11] [12] Palaeoryctidae was originally assigned to the now-abandoned grouping Insectivora by Sloan and Van Valen (1965), then to clade Proteutheria, [7] and more recently to Eutheria by Scott et al. (2002). [13]

Generally speaking Palaeoryctidae has been used as a wastebasket taxon for many archaic insectivorous mammals. [14]

According to a 2022 study by Bertrand et al., palaeoryctids are identified to be a basal group of placental mammals. [15]

Taxonomy

  • Order: †Palaeoryctida(Averianov, 2003)
    • Family: †Palaeoryctidae(Winge, 1917)

Phylogeny

Placentalia

Atlantogenata Elephas africanus - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - (white background).jpg

Boreoeutheria Dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes (Plate XI).jpg

Palaeoryctida 
Palaeoryctidae 
Nuryctes

Nuryctes gobiensis

Nuryctes qinlingensis

Nuryctes alayensis

?

Palaeoryctidae sp. indet. 1

?

Palaeoryctidae sp. indet. 2

?

Palaeoryctidae sp. (RI 343 & RI 355)

?

Palaeoryctes minimus

Palaeoryctes puercensis

Palaeoryctinae

Palaeoryctes jepseni

Palaeoryctes punctatus

Palaeoryctes

Palaeoryctes cruoris

Aaptoryctes

Aaptoryctes ivyi

Eoryctes

Eoryctes melanus

Ottoryctes

Ottoryctes winkleri

Aceroryctes

Aceroryctes dulcis

Lainoryctes

Lainoryctes youzwyshyni

References

  1. A. O. Averianov (2003.) "Present-Day Concepts of the System of Placental Mammals." in: "Systematics, Phylogeny and Paleontology of Small Mammals", Ed. by A. O. Averianov and N. I. Abramson (Zool. Inst. Ross. Akad Nauk, St. Petersburg), pp. 15–20 [in Russian].
  2. Winge H. (1917.) "Udsigt over Insektaedernes indbyrdes Slaeggtskab." Videnskabelige meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening i København, vol. 68, p. 82–203.
  3. L. Van Valen (1966.) "Deltatheridia, a new order of Mammals." Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 132(1):1-126
  4. Mammals: An Outline of Theriology. 1976.
  5. C., McKenna, Malcolm; Xiangxu., Xue; Mingzhen., Zhou (1984). "Prosarcodon lonanensis, a new Paleocene micropternodontid palaeoryctoid insectivore from Asia". American Museum Novitates (2780). hdl:2246/5265.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. McKenna, Malcolm C.; Bell, Susan K. (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN   978-0-231-11012-9 . Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  7. 1 2 Gregg F. Gunnell, Thomas Bown, Jonathan Ivan Bloch, Doug M. Boyer (2008.) "Proteutheria"; pp. 63–81 in C. M. Janis, G. F. Gunnell, and M. Uhen (eds.), "Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Volume 2: Small Mammals, Xenarthrans, and Marine Mammals." Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
  8. Rankin, Brian D.; Holroyd, Patricia A. (October 2014). Sues, Hans-Dieter (ed.). "Aceroryctes dulcis, a new palaeoryctid (Mammalia, Eutheria) from the early Eocene of the Wasatch Formation of southwestern Wyoming, USA" . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 51 (10): 919–926. Bibcode:2014CaJES..51..919R. doi:10.1139/cjes-2014-0101. ISSN   0008-4077.
  9. 1 2 Agustí & Antón 2002 , p. 5
  10. Wible, John R.; Bertrand, Ornella C. (2024-07-08). "Basicranial Anatomy of Leptictis haydeni Leidy, 1868 (Mammalia, Eutheria, Leptictidae)". Annals of Carnegie Museum. 90 (1). doi:10.2992/007.090.0101. ISSN   0097-4463.
  11. Gingerich 1982 , p. 38
  12. History, Carnegie Museum of Natural (1995). Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
  13. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  14. Prothero, Donald R. (2016-11-15). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. p. 104. ISBN   9781400884452.
  15. Bertrand, O. C.; Shelley, S. L.; Williamson, T. E.; Wible, J. R.; Chester, S. G. B.; Flynn, J. J.; Holbrook, L. T.; Lyson, T. R.; Meng, J.; Miller, I. M.; Püschel, H. P.; Smith, T.; Spaulding, M.; Tseng, Z. J.; Brusatte, S. L. (2022). "Brawn before brains in placental mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction". Science. 376 (6588): 80–85. Bibcode:2022Sci...376...80B. doi:10.1126/science.abl5584. hdl: 20.500.11820/d7fb8c6e-886e-4c1d-9977-0cd6406fda20 . PMID   35357913.