Palaeoryctidae

Palaeoryctids; Temporal range: Late Cretaceous–Paleocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Cimolesta
Family:	†Palaeoryctidae; Winge, 1917
Genera
	; ; ; ; ; ; Palaeoryctes; ; ;

Palaeoryctidae or Palaeoryctoidea ("old/stony digger", from Greek: ὀρύκτης, oryctes) is an extinct group of relatively non-specialized non-placental 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]

Description[]

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 Lepticids. 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 paleoryctids 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]

Taxonomy[]

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, , 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]

Notes[]

^ ^a ^b "Palaeoryctidae". The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 17 January 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ ^a ^b ^c 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 requires |journal= (help)
^ Mammals: An Outline of Theriology. 1976.
^ 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.

References[]

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. University of Michigan. 26 (3): 37–47.