Epoicotheriidae
Appearance
Epoicotheriidae | |
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Scientific classification | |
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Family: | †Epoicotheriidae Simpson 1927
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Genera[1] | |
Alocodontulum |
Epoicotheriidae is an extinct family of pangolin-like insectivore mammals which were endemic to North America from the Eocene to the Oligocene 55.4—33.9 Ma existing for approximately 21.5 million years.[1] Epoicotheriids were highly specialized animals that were convergent with the golden moles of Africa in the structure of their skulls and forelimbs, and would have had a similar lifestyle as subterranean burrowers.
Taxonomy
Epoicotheriidae was named by Simpson in (1927). It was assigned to the Palaeanodonta by Rose (1978)[2] and Carroll (1988)