Palaeanodonta

Palaeanodonta ("ancient toothless animals") is an extinct clade of stem-pangolins. They were insectivorous, possibly fossorial, and lived from the Early Paleocene to Early Oligocene in North America, Europe and East Asia.[1][2][3]

Palaeanodonts Temporal range: 63.3–30.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Early Paleocene - Early Oligocene
Reconstruction of Metacheiromys marshi
Reconstruction of Ernanodon antelios
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Pholidotamorpha
Order:	†Palaeanodonta Matthew, 1918
Genera and Families
Family: †Epoicotheriidae Family: †Escavadodontidae Family: †Metacheiromyidae^### Suborder: †Ernanodonta Family: †Ernanodontidae Incertae sedis: Genus: †Amelotabes Genus: †Arcticanodon Genus: †Melaniella ### - paraphyletic

Classification and phylogeny

Traditional classification

• Order: †Palaeanodonta (Matthew, 1918) (stem-pangolins)[1]
  • Family: †Epoicotheriidae (Simpson, 1927)
  • Family: †Escavadodontidae (Rose & Lucas, 2000)
  • Family: †Metacheiromyidae (Wortman, 1903)
  • Incertae sedis:
    • Genus: †Amelotabes (Rose, 1978)
    • Genus: †Arcticanodon (Rose, 2004)
    • Genus: †Melaniella (Fox, 1984)

Revised classification

• Order: †Palaeanodonta (Matthew, 1918) (stem-pangolins)[3]
  • Family: †Epoicotheriidae (Simpson, 1927)
    • Genus: †Alocodontulum (Rose, 1978)
      • †Alocodontulum atopum (Rose, 1977)
    • Genus: †Auroratherium (Tong & Wang, 1997)
      • †Auroratherium sinense (Tong & Wang, 1997)
    • Genus: †Dipassalus (Rose, 1991)
      • †Dipassalus oryctes (Rose, 1991)
    • Genus: †Pentapassalus (Gazin, 1952)
      • †Pentapassalus pearcei (Gazin, 1952)
      • †Pentapassalus woodi (Guthrie, 1967)
    • Genus: †Tubulodon (Jepsen, 1932)
      • †Tubulodon taylori (Jepsen, 1932)
    • Subfamily: †Epoicotheriinae (Simpson, 1927)
      • Genus: †Epoicotherium (Simpson, 1927)
        • †Epoicotherium unicum (Douglass, 1905)
      • Genus: †Molaetherium (Storch & Rummel, 1999)
        • †Molaetherium heissigi (Storch & Rummel, 1999)
      • Genus: †Tetrapassalus (Simpson, 1959)
        • †Tetrapassalus mckennai (Simpson, 1959)
        • †Tetrapassalus proius (West, 1973)
      • Genus: †Xenocranium (Colbert, 1942)
        • †Xenocranium pileorivale (Colbert, 1942)
  • Family: †Escavadodontidae (Rose & Lucas, 2000)
    • Genus: †Escavadodon (Rose & Lucas, 2000)
      • †Escavadodon zygus (Rose & Lucas, 2000)
  • Family: †Metacheiromyidae ^{(paraphyletic family)[3]} (Wortman, 1903)
    • Genus: †Brachianodon (Gunnell & Gingerich, 1993)
      • †Brachianodon westorum (Gunnell & Gingerich, 1993)
    • Genus: †Mylanodon (Secord, 2002)
      • †Metacheiromys dasypus (Secord, 2002)
    • Subfamily: †Metacheiromyinae ^{(paraphyletic subfamily)[3]} (Wortman, 1903)
      • Genus: †Metacheiromys (Wortman, 1903)
        • †Metacheiromys dasypus (Osborn, 1904)
        • †Metacheiromys marshi (Wortman, 1903)
      • Genus: †Palaeanodon (Matthew, 1918)
        • †Palaeanodon ignavus (Matthew, 1918)
        • †Palaeanodon nievelti (Gingerich, 1989)
        • †Palaeanodon parvulus (Matthew, 1918)
    • Subfamily: †Propalaeanodontinae (Schoch, 1984)
      • Genus: †Propalaeanodon (Rose, 1979)
        • †Palaeanodon parvulus (Rose, 1979)
  • Suborder: †Ernanodonta (Ding, 1987) (pseudo-xenarthrans)
    • Family: †Ernanodontidae (Ting, 1979) (pseudo-xenarthrans)
      • Genus: †Asiabradypus (Nessov, 1987)
        • †Asiabradypus incompositus (Nessov, 1987)
      • Genus: †Ernanodon (Ting, 1979)
        • †Ernanodon antelios (Ting, 1979)
  • Incertae sedis:
    • Genus: †Amelotabes (Rose, 1978)
      • †Amelotabes simpsoni (Rose, 1978)
    • Genus: †Arcticanodon (Rose, 2004)
      • †Arcticanodon dawsonae (Rose, 2004)
    • Genus: †Melaniella (Fox, 1984)
      • †Melaniella timosa (Fox, 1984)

Phylogenetic tree

The phylogenetic relationships of Palaeanodonta are shown in the following cladogram:[1][2][3]

Pholidotamorpha	Pholidota (sensu stricto)    †Palaeanodonta    †Escavadodontidae      ?  †Amelotabes    ?  †Melaniella       †Epoicotheriidae    ?  †Arcticanodon     †Metacheiromyidae   †Propalaeanodontinae       †Mylanodon       †Brachianodon       †Palaeanodon       †Metacheiromys    †Ernanodonta  †Ernanodontidae         †Metacheiromyinae
(Pholidota sensu lato)

References

1. Kenneth D. Rose (2008). "9 - Palaeanodonta and Pholidota". doi:10.1017/CBO9780511541438.010. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
2. 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.
3. 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.