Metacheiromys
| Metacheiromys Temporal range: early to middle Eocene
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| Metacheiromys marshi skeleton. | |
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| Reconstruction of Metacheiromys marshi | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Palaeanodonta |
| Family: | † |
| Subfamily: | † |
| Genus: | †Metacheiromys , 1903 |
| Type species | |
| †Metacheiromys marshi Wortman, 1903
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| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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M. dasypus
M. marshi
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Metacheiromys ("next to Cheiromys") is an extinct genus of palaeanodont mammal from the paraphyletic subfamily within paraphyletic family , that lived in North America (what is now Wyoming) during the early to middle Eocene.
Metacheiromys was a small creature, and measured around 45 centimetres (18 in) long. It had long claws and a narrow head similar in shape to that of an armadillo or an anteater (though it was actually related to the modern pangolins). The shape of its claws suggests that it probably dug through the soil in search of food, most likely small invertebrates. Unlike modern anteaters or pangolins, it had powerful canine teeth, but only a very few cheek teeth, instead using horny pads in its mouth to crush its food.[2]
The generic name means "next to Cheiromys" because the scientist who saw the bones mistakenly thought that the animal was a primate with hands like those of the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), one synonym being Cheiromys.
Metacheiromys and its relatives, including the enigmatic Ernanodon, constitute the order Palaeanodonta, thought to be the sister taxon of pangolins.[3]
Phylogenetic tree[]
The phylogenetic relationships of genus Metacheiromys is shown in the following cladogram:[4][5][3]
| Pholidotamorpha |
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(Pholidota [sensu lato])
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References[]
- ^ G. G. Simpson. (1931.) "Metacheiromys and the Edentata." Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 59(6)
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 206. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Kenneth D. Rose (2008). "9 - Palaeanodonta and Pholidota". doi:10.1017/CBO9780511541438.010. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - ^ 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.
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| Order: Pholidota |
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| Order: †Palaeanodonta |
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