Palaeoryctidae
Palaeoryctidae
Extinct family of mammals
Palaeoryctidae or Palaeoryctoidea ("old/stony digger", from Greek: ὀρύκτης, oryctes) is an extinct group of relatively non-specialized eutherian mammals that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous and took part in the first placental evolutionary radiation together with other early mammals such as the leptictids.[2] Some sources classified the Palaeoryctidae as a superfamily.[3][4]
| Palaeoryctids | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia (?) |
| Order: | †Palaeoryctida |
| Family: | †Palaeoryctidae Winge, 1917 |
| Genera | |
| |
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).[2]
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.[2]
The relationship between this archaic group and other insectivorous mammals is uncertain.[5][6] Palaeoryctidae was originally assigned to the now-abandoned grouping Insectivora by Sloan and Van Valen (1965) and more recently to Eutheria by Scott et al. (2002). Sister groups include: Kennalestidae, Nanocuridae, Pantolestidae, and Zalambdalestidae.[1]
Generally speaking Palaeoryctidae has been used as a wastebasket taxon, but it is now considered obsolete; the only group of insectivorous mammals now considered valid is the order Eulipotyphla.[7]
According to 2022 study of Bertrand, O. C, palaeoryctids are identified to be a basal placental mammal.[8]
- "Palaeoryctidae". The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 17 January 2010.[permanent dead link]
- Agustí & Antón 2002, p. 5
- C., McKenna, Malcolm; Xiangxu., Xue; Mingzhen., Zhou (1984). "Prosarcodon lonanensis, a new Paleocene micropternodontid palaeoryctoid insectivore from Asia. American Museum novitates; no. 2780". hdl:2246/5265.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Gingerich 1982, p. 38
- History, Carnegie Museum of Natural (1995). Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
- Prothero, Donald R. (2016-11-15). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9781400884452.
- 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.
- Agustí, Jordi; Antón, Mauricio (2002). Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11640-3.
- Gingerich, Philip D. (December 1982). "Aaptoryctes (Palaeoryctidae) and Thelysia (Palaeoryctidae?); New Insectivorous Mammals from the Late Paleocene and Early Eocene of Western North America" (PDF). Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology. 26 (3). University of Michigan: 37–47.
- "Family: Palaeoryctidae: Occurrence overview". GDIF. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
- "†Palaeoryctidae". Mikko's Phylogeny Archive. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
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