Asioryctitheria

Reconstructed skull of Uchkudukodon nessovi, from McKenna et al. (2000).

Belongs within: Eutheria.

The Asioryctitheria are a group of small, probably insectivorous mammals known from the Late Cretaceous of Asia. Monophyly of this group is uncertain: Wible et al.'s (2007) phylogenetic analysis found them to be paraphyletic to modern placentals whereas Halliday et al. (2017) found a clade uniting Asioryctitheria with the contemporary Zalambdalestidae.

<==Asioryctitheria WR07
    |--+--+--Bulaklestes kezbe HUG17, WR07
    |  |  `--Uchkudukodon nessovi HUG17, OB13
    |  `--Daulestes Trofimov & Nessov in Nessov & Trofimov 1979 HUG17, FN03
    |       |--D. inobservabilis WR07
    |       |--D. kulbeckensis WR07
    |       `--D. nessovi AAE01
    `--+--+--Kennalestes Kielan-Jaworowska 1969 HUG17, FN03
       |  |    `--K. gobiensis WR07
       |  `--+--Ukhaatherium Novacek 1997 HUG17, D07
       |     |    `--U. nessovi OB13
       |     `--Asioryctes Kielan-Jaworowska 1975 HUG17, FN03
       |          `--A. nemegtensis WR07
       `--Zalambdalestidae WR07
            |--Kulbeckia HUG17
            |    |--K. kansaica HUG17
            |    `--K. kulbecke WR07
            `--+--Lainodon orueetxebarriai HUG17, WR07
               |--Zhangolestes jilinensis HUG17
               |--Barunlestes butleri HUG17, WR07
               `--+--Alymlestes kielanae HUG17
                  `--Zalambdalestes Gregory & Simpson 1926 HUG17, D07
                       |--Z. grangeri HUG17
                       `--Z. lechei WR07

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AAE01] Archibald, J. D., A. O. Averianov & E. G. Ekdale. 2001. Late Cretaceous relatives of rabbits, rodents, and other extant eutherian mammals. Nature 414: 62–65.

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[FN03] Fox, R. C., & B. G. Naylor. 2003. A Late Cretaceous taeniodont (Eutheria, Mammalia) from Alberta, Canada. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie—Abhandlungen 229 (3): 393–420.

[HUG17] Halliday, T. J. D., P. Upchurch & A. Goswami. 2017. Resolving the relationships of Paleocene placental mammals. Biological Reviews 92 (1): 521–550.

[OB13] O'Leary, M. A., J. I. Bloch, J. J. Flynn, T. J. Gaudin, A. Giallombardo, N. P. Giannini, S. L. Goldberg, B. P. Kraatz, Z.-X. Luo, J. Meng, X. Ni, M. J. Novacek, F. A. Perini, Z. S. Randall, G. W. Rougier, E. J. Sargis, M. T. Silcox, N. B. Simmons, M. Spaulding, P. M. Velazco, M. Weksler, J. R. Wible & A. L. Cirranello. 2013. The placental mammal ancestor and the post-K-Pg radiation of placentals. Science 339: 662–667.

[WR07] Wible, J. R., G. W. Rougier, M. J. Novacek & R. J. Asher. 2007. Cretaceous eutherians and Laurasian origin for placental mammals near the K/T boundary. Nature 447: 1003–1006.