Escavadodon

Escavadodon ("tooth from Escavada") is an extinct genus of pangolin-like insectivorous mammal which was endemic to North America during the Early Paleocene (Torrejonian in the NALMA classification), from approximately 63.3 to 61.7 Ma, existing for approximately 1.6 million years .[1] It contains a single species, Escavadodon zygus.

Escavadodon Temporal range: ~63.3–61.7 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Early Paleocene
Escavadodon zygus skeleton.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Palaeanodonta
Family:	†Escavadodontidae Rose & Lucas, 2000
Genus:	†Escavadodon Rose & Lucas, 2000
Type species
Escavadodon zygus Rose & Lucas, 2000

Taxonomy

The monotypic family Escavadodontidae was erected by Rose and Lucas in 2000 to hold the type species, recovered from the Nacimiento Formation of New Mexico.[2]

Phylogenetic tree

The phylogenetic relationships of genus Escavadodon is shown in the following cladogram:[3][4][5]

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

References

1. Paleobiology Database: Escavadodontidae basic info.
2. Rose, Kenneth D.; Lucas, Spencer G. (2000). "An early Paleocene palaeanodont (Mammalia, ?Pholidota) from New Mexico, and the origin of Palaeanodonta". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 20 (1): 139–156. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0139:AEPPMP]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634.
3. Kenneth D. Rose (2008). "Palaeanodonta and Pholidota". In Janis, Christine M; Gunnell, Gregg F; Uhen, Mark D (eds.). 9 - Palaeanodonta and Pholidota. pp. 135–146. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511541438.010. ISBN 9780511541438.
4. 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. S2CID 1773698.
5. 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. S2CID 86059673.