Epoicotheriinae

Epoicotheriinae ("strange beasts") is an extinct paraphyletic subfamily of insectivorous placental mammals within extinct paraphyletic family Epoicotheriidae in extinct order Palaeanodonta, that lived in North America and Europe from the early Eocene to early Oligocene.[2] Epoicotheriins 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]

Epoicotheriinae
Temporal range: early Eocene - 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
Subfamily: †Epoicotheriinae
Simpson, 1927[1]
Type genus
†Epoicotherium
Simpson, 1927
Genera
[see classification]

Classification and phylogeny

Classification
  • 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 subfamily Epoicotheriinae are shown in the following cladogram:[4][5][6]

 Ferae 

Pan-Carnivora

 Pholidotamorpha 

Pholidota (sensu stricto)

 †Palaeanodonta 

†Escavadodontidae

 ? 

†Melaniella

†Ernanodontidae

†Metacheiromys

†Metacheiromyinae 

†Palaeanodon

†Brachianodon

†Mylanodon

†Propalaeanodontinae

 ? 

†Arcticanodon

 †Pentapassalus 

†Pentapassalus pearcei

†Pentapassalus woodi

†Alocodontulum

†Auroratherium

†Tubulodon

†Dipassalus

†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

 (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. R. M. Schoch (1984.) "Revision of Metacheiromys (Wortman, 1903) and a review of the Palaeanodonta." Postilla 192:1-28
  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. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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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