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Anagaloidea

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Leptictidium (talk | contribs) at 18:12, 22 May 2020 (Is this really necessary? We don't qualify each and every statement on WP with a date, and I see no reason why this one specifically needs one). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Anagaloidea
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous–Early Oligocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Superorder: Euarchontoglires
Clade: Gliriformes
Order: Anagaloidea
Families
  • Anagalidae
  • Pseudictopidae
  • Astigalidae?
  • Zalambdalestidae?

Anagaloidea is an extinct order of mammals that first appeared during the Cretaceous period.

Taxonomy

According to the traditional (morphological) view, Anagaloidea is part of the superorder Anagalida, along with the elephant shrews, rodents and lagomorphs.

However, the Anagalida are considered to be polyphyletic. Genetic studies have shown that the elephant shrews are actually part of a different macro-group of mammals called the Afrotheria, while the position of several extinct families of Anagalida is uncertain. The Zalambdalestidae are almost certainly unrelated to any of these groups; they probably represent more basal Eutherians and might not even be true Eutherians at all.

The Anagalidae and the Pseudictopidae probably represent a genuine clade. This clade is known as the Anagaloidea, which seems to be related to the rodents and lagomorphs after all. Together they form the clade Glires, often grouped with the Euarchonta to form the superorder Euarchontoglires.

Classification