Taeniodonta

Taeniodonta ("banded teeth") is an extinct early group of cimolestid mammals known from the Palaeocene to the Eocene. Taeniodonts evolved quickly into highly specialized digging animals, and varied greatly in size, from rat-sized to species as large as a bear. Later species developed prominent front teeth and huge claws for digging and rooting. Some genera, like Stylinodon, had ever-growing teeth.[1]

Taeniodonta
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous - Eocene, 66–37 Ma
Stylinodon mirus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Cimolesta
Suborder: †Taeniodonta
Families

Conoryctidae
Stylinodontidae

Two families belong to this group, Stylinodontidae and Conoryctidae. They were endemic to North America. The scarcity of taeniodont fossils can be explained by the fact that these animals probably lived in dry or arid climates unconductive to fossilization. Taeniodonts are unambiguously Eutherians, and part of Cimolesta; Cimolestes is the immediate outgroup to Taeniodonta.[2]

Taxonomy and Phylogeny

From Thomas E. Williamson and Stephen L. Brusatte (2013):[3]

  • Suborder Taeniodonta
  • Conoryctella
  • Huerfanodon
  • Conoryctes
Taeniodonta
 

Alveugena

 
 
 

Schowalteria

 
 
 

Onychodectes

 
 
Conoryctidae
 

Conoryctella

 
 
 

Huerfanodon

 
 

Conoryctes

 
 
 
Stylinodontidae
 

Wortmania

 
 
 

Psittacotherium

 
 
 

Ectoganus

 
 

Stylinodon

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Notes
  1. Cox et al. 1988, p. 237
  2. Rook & Hunter 2013
  3. Williamson, T. E.; Brusatte, S. L. (2013). Viriot, Laurent (ed.). "New Specimens of the Rare Taeniodont Wortmania (Mammalia: Eutheria) from the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Comments on the Phylogeny and Functional Morphology of "Archaic" Mammals". PLOS ONE. 8 (9): e75886. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...875886W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075886. PMC 3786969. PMID 24098738.

References
  • Cox, Barry; Savage, R.J.G.; Gardiner, Brian; Dixon, Dougal (1988). "Early rooters and browsers". Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. Macmillan London Limited. ISBN 978-0-333-48699-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • McKenna, Malcolm C.; Bell, Susan K. (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231110136. OCLC 37345734.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Rook, D.L.; Hunter, J.P. (2013). "Rooting Around the Eutherian Family Tree: the Origin and Relations of the Taeniodonta". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 21: 1–17. doi:10.1007/s10914-013-9230-9. S2CID 17074668.


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