Epoicotheriidae

Epoicotheriidae ("strange beasts") is an extinct paraphyletic family of insectivorous placental mammals within extinct order Palaeanodonta, that lived in North America, Asia and Europe from the late Paleocene to early Oligocene.[2] Epoicotheriids were fossorial mammals. Late Eocene/early Oligocene genera were highly specialized animals that were convergent with the talpids, golden moles and marsupial mole in the structure of their skulls and forelimbs, and would have had a similar lifestyle as subterranean burrowers.[3]

Epoicotheriidae
Temporal range: late Paleocene - early Oligocene
Artist reconstruction of
Xenocranium pileorivale
compared to the size of a human hand.
skull of Pentapassalus pearcei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Palaeanodonta
Family: †Epoicotheriidae
Simpson, 1927[1]
Type genus
†Epoicotherium
Simpson, 1927
Genera[2]
[see classification]

Classification and phylogeny

Taxonomy

Epoicotheriidae was named by Simpson in 1927. It was assigned to the Palaeanodonta by Rose (1978)[4] and Carroll (1988).

Classification
  • 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: †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)

Phylogenetic tree

The phylogenetic relationships of family Epoicotheriidae are shown in the following cladogram:[5][6][7]

 Ferae 

Pan-Carnivora

 Pholidotamorpha 

Pholidota (sensu stricto)

 †Palaeanodonta 

†Escavadodontidae

 ? 

†Melaniella

†Ernanodontidae

†Metacheiromys

†Metacheiromyinae 

†Palaeanodon

†Brachianodon

†Mylanodon

†Propalaeanodontinae

 ? 

†Arcticanodon

 †Pentapassalus 

†Pentapassalus pearcei

†Pentapassalus woodi

 †Alocodontulum 

†Alocodontulum atopum

 †Auroratherium 

†Auroratherium sinensis

 †Tubulodon 

†Tubulodon taylori

 †Dipassalus 

†Dipassalus oryctes

†Epoicotheriinae
 †Tetrapassalus 

†Tetrapassalus mckennai

†Tetrapassalus proius

†Tetrapassalus sp. A (AMNH 10215)

†Tetrapassalus sp. B

 †Xenocranium 

†Xenocranium pileorivale

 †Epoicotherium 

†Epoicotherium unicum

 †Molaetherium 

†Molaetherium heissigi

†Epoicotheriidae

 †Amelotabes 

†Amelotabes simpsoni

 (Pholidota [sensu lato]) 
†Epoicotherium/Xenocranium clade

See also

References
  1. G. G. Simpson (1927.) "In North American Oligocene edentate." Annals of Carnegie Museum 17 (2): 283-299
  2. "Classification of the family Epoicotheriidae". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. Kenneth D. Rose, Robert J. Emry (1983) "Extraordinary fossorial adaptations in the oligocene palaeanodonts Epoicotherium and Xenocranium (Mammalia)" Journal of Morphology 175(1):33 - 56
  4. Rose, Kenneth D. (1978). "A New Paleocene Epoicotheriid (Mammalia), with Comments on the Palaeanodonta". Journal of Paleontology. 52 (3): 658–674. JSTOR 1303970.
  5. Kenneth D. Rose (2008). "Palaeanodonta and Pholidota". In Janis, Christine M; Gunnell, Gregg F; Uhen, Mark D (eds.). 9 - Palaeanodonta and Pholidota. pp. 135–146. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511541438.010. ISBN 9780511541438.
  6. Gaudin, Timothy (2009). "The Phylogeny of Living and Extinct Pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and Associated Taxa: A Morphology Based Analysis" (PDF). Journal of Mammalian Evolution. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Science+Business Media. 16 (4): 235–305. doi:10.1007/s10914-009-9119-9. S2CID 1773698. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  7. Kondrashov, Peter; Agadjanian, Alexandre K. (2012). "A nearly complete skeleton of Ernanodon (Mammalia, Palaeanodonta) from Mongolia: morphofunctional analysis". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (5): 983–1001. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.694319. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 86059673.
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