Epoicotheriinae Explained

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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:^{[3] [4] [5]}

See also

• Mammal classification
• Epoicotheriidae

Notes and References

1. R. M. Schoch (1984.) "Revision of Metacheiromys (Wortman, 1903) and a review of the Palaeanodonta." Postilla 192:1-28
2. 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
3. Book: Kenneth D. Rose . Christine M . Janis . Gregg F . Gunnell . Mark D . Uhen . 9 - Palaeanodonta and Pholidota . Palaeanodonta and Pholidota . 2008 . 135–146 . 10.1017/CBO9780511541438.010 . 9780511541438.
4. Gaudin . Timothy . 2009 . The Phylogeny of Living and Extinct Pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and Associated Taxa: A Morphology Based Analysis . Journal of Mammalian Evolution . Springer Science+Business Media . Heidelberg, Germany . 16 . 4 . 235–305 . 10.1007/s10914-009-9119-9 . 1773698 . 2020-08-28 . 2015-09-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925134257/http://web2.utc.edu/~gvv824/Gaudin%20et%20al%202009.pdf . dead .
5. Kondrashov . Peter . Agadjanian . Alexandre K. . A nearly complete skeleton of Ernanodon (Mammalia, Palaeanodonta) from Mongolia: morphofunctional analysis . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 32 . 5 . 2012 . 0272-4634 . 10.1080/02724634.2012.694319 . 983–1001. 86059673.