Plesiadapidae

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Plesiadapidae
Temporal range: early Paleocene - early Eocene
PlesiadapisNewZICA.png
Plesiadapis
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Plesiadapiformes
Superfamily: Plesiadapoidea
Family: Plesiadapidae
Trouessart, 1897
Genera

Pronothodectes
Chiromyoides
Nannodectes
Plesiadapis
Platychoerops
Jattadectes

Synonyms

Plesiadapinae Trouessart, 1897

Plesiadapidae is a family of plesiadapiform mammals related to primates known from the Paleocene and Eocene of North America, Europe, and Asia. [1] [2] Plesiadapids were abundant in the late Paleocene, and their fossils are often used to establish the ages of fossil faunas. [3]

Classification

McKenna and Bell [1] recognized two subfamilies (Plesiadapinae and Saxonellinae) and one unassigned genus ( Pandemonium ) within Plesiadapidae. More recently Saxonella (the only saxonelline) and Pandemonium have been excluded from the family, [4] leaving only a redundant Plesiadapinae. Within the family, Pronothodectes is the likely ancestor of all other genera, while Plesiadapis may be directly ancestral to both Chiromyoides and Platychoerops . [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 McKenna, M. C. & S. K. Bell (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press. ISBN   0-231-11012-X.
  2. Thewissen, J.G.M.; Williams, E.M. & Hussain, S.T. (2001). "Eocene mammal faunas from northern Indo-Pakistan". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (2): 347–366. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0347:EMFFNI]2.0.CO;2.
  3. 1 2 Gingerich, P.D. (1976). "Cranial anatomy and evolution of early Tertiary Plesiadapidae (Mammalia, Primates)". University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology. 15: 1–141. hdl:2027.42/48615.
  4. Silcox, M.T.; Krause, D.W.; Maas, M.C. & Fox, R.C. (2001). "New specimens of Elphidotarsius russelli (Mammalia, ?Primates, Carpolestidae) and a revision of plesiadapoid relationships". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (1): 132–152. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0132:NSOERM]2.0.CO;2.