Peradectidae

Peradectidae Temporal range: Paleocene–Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil of Peradectes
Life restoration of Mimoperadectes
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Metatheria
Family:	† Peradectidae Crochet, 1979
Genera
Peradectes Mimoperadectes Armintodelphys Siamoperadectes Sinoperadectes Maastrichtidelphys ? Pucadelphys ? Szalinia ?

Peradectidae is a family of small metatherian mammals, spanning from the Paleocene (or possibly Latest Cretaceous) to the Miocene. Fossils are known from the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe, Asia and North America. The monophyly of the group has been questioned, with some authors suggesting that Peradectes should be the only genus placed in the family. ^[1] The morphology of peradectids has been considered to be similar to opossums, ^[2] with at least some exhibiting morphology suggesting a tree dwelling arboreal/scansorial lifestyle. ^[3] Their diet is suggested to have included insects and fruit. ^[4]

Phylogenetic analysis suggest that they are less closely related to modern marsupials than herpetotheriids are. ^[5]

Cladogram after: ^[2]

Metatheria	Deltatheriidae Kokopellia Asiatherium Peradectidae Stagodontidae Pucadelphyidae Sparassodonta Amphiperatherium Peratherium Herpetotherium Marsupialia

References

1. Williamson, Thomas E.; Brusatte, Stephen L.; Carr, Thomas D.; Weil, Anne; Standhardt, Barbara R. (2012-12-01). "The phylogeny and evolution of Cretaceous–Palaeogene metatherians: cladistic analysis and description of new early Palaeocene specimens from the Nacimiento Formation, New Mexico". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (4): 625–651. Bibcode:2012JSPal..10..625W. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.631592. ISSN   1477-2019.
2. Ladevèze, Sandrine; Selva, Charlène; de Muizon, Christian (2020-09-01). "What are "opossum-like" fossils? The phylogeny of herpetotheriid and peradectid metatherians, based on new features from the petrosal anatomy". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (17): 1463–1479. Bibcode:2020JSPal..18.1463L. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1772387. ISSN   1477-2019.
3. Horovitz, Inés; Martin, Thomas; Bloch, Jonathan; Ladevèze, Sandrine; Kurz, Cornelia; Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R. (2009-12-16). DeSalle, Robert (ed.). "Cranial Anatomy of the Earliest Marsupials and the Origin of Opossums". PLOS ONE. 4 (12): e8278. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008278 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   2789412 . PMID   20016823.
4. Crespo, Vicente D.; Goin, Francisco J.; Pickford, Martin (2022-06-03). "The last African metatherian". Fossil Record. 25 (1): 173–186. doi: 10.3897/fr.25.80706 . hdl: 10362/151025 . ISSN   2193-0074.
5. de Muizon, Christian; Ladevèze, Sandrine (2022-06-30). "New material of Incadelphys antiquus (Pucadelphyda, Metatheria, Mammalia) from the early Palaeocene of Bolivia reveals phylogenetic affinities with enigmatic North and South American metatherians". Geodiversitas. 44 (22). doi:10.5252/geodiversitas2022v44a22. ISSN   1280-9659.