Plesiadapoidea

Mounted skeleton of Plesiadapis cookei at the Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, Brussels, copyright Ghedoghedo.

Belongs within: Euarchonta.

The Plesiadapoidea are a group of arboreal mammals known from the Palaeocene and Early Eocene (Bloch et al. 2007).

Synapomorphies (from Bloch et al. 2007): I³ absent; lower canine smaller than adjacent teeth; P₄ talonid not basined, with one distinct cusp; P³ buccal length more than twice lingual length; P⁴ with one large conule present, intermediate ridge present, preprotocrista absent; lower molar paraconids subequal to or taller than metaconid; M₃ talonid similar in breadth to trigonid or wider; relative size of M³ >0.9 (based on calculation Ln [buccal(length*width) of M³/Ln [buccal (length*width) of M¹); M¹ or M² postprotocingulum pronounced; posterior carotid foramen posteromedial; lumbar transverse processes short and lateral to centrum, not projecting ventrally beyond centrum.

Plesiadapoidea BS07
    |--+--Saxonella [Saxonellidae] NG13
    |  |    |--S. crepaturas NG13
    |  |    `--S. naylori BS07
    |  `--+--Chronolestes simul NG13
    |     `--Carpolestidae BS07
    |          |  i. s.: Carpodaptes Matthew & Granger 1921 BS07, S35a
    |          |           |--*C. aulacodon Matthew & Granger 1921 S35a
    |          |           `--C. cygneus BS07
    |          |--Elphidotarsius NG13
    |          |    |--E. florencae Gidley 1923 S35b
    |          |    |--E. russelli Krause 1978 SFY02
    |          |    |--E. shotgunensis BS07
    |          |    `--E. wightoni BS07
    |          `--+--Carpocristes oriens NG13
    |             `--Carpolestes NG13
    |                  |--C. aquilae S35a
    |                  |--C. dubius BS07
    |                  |--C. nigridens BS07
    |                  `--C. simpsoni NG13
    `--Plesiadapidae BS07
         |  i. s.: Chiromyoides potior S62, T90
         |         Platychoerops BS07
         |--Pronothodectes NG13
         |    |--P. gaoi BS07
         |    |--P. jepi BS07
         |    `--P. matthewi Gidley 1923 S35b
         `--+--Nannodectes NG13
            |    |--N. gidleyi NG13
            |    `--N. intermedius (Gazin 1971) SFY02
            `--Plesiadapis Gervais 1877 NG13, D07
                 |--P. anceps T90
                 |--P. churchilli T90
                 |--P. cookei BS07
                 |--P. gidleyi WR07
                 |--P. gingerichi HC97
                 |--P. insignis BS07
                 |--P. praecursor Gingerich 1975 SFY02
                 |--P. remensis BS07
                 |--P. rex BS07
                 |--P. russelli D07
                 |--P. simonsi T90
                 |--P. tricuspidens NG13
                 `--P. walbeckensis BS07

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BS07] Bloch, J. I., M. T. Silcox, D. M. Boyer & E. J. Sargis. 2007. New Paleocene skeletons and the relationship of plesiadapiforms to crown-clade primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 104 (4): 1159–1164.

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

[HC97] Huang X. & Chen L. 1997. Mammalian remains from the Late Paleocene of Guichi, Anhui. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 35 (1): 49–67.

[NG13] Ni, X., D. L. Gebo, M. Dagosto, J. Meng, P. Tafforeau, J. J. Flynn & K. C. Beard. 2013. The oldest known primate skeleton and early haplorhine evolution. Nature 498: 60–64.

[SFY02] Scott, C. S., R. C. Fox & G. P. Youzwyshyn. 2002. New earliest Tiffanian (late Paleocene) mammals from Cochrane 2, southwestern Alberta, Canada. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47: 691–704.

[S62] Simons, E. L. 1962. A new Eocene primate genus, Cantius, and a revision of some allied European lemuroids. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History): Geology 7 (1): 1–36.

[S35a] Simpson, G. G. 1935a. The Tiffany fauna, Upper Paleocene. I.—Multituberculata, Marsupialia, Insectivora, and ?Chiroptera. American Museum Novitates 795: 1–19.

[S35b] Simpson, G. G. 1935b. New Paleocene mammals from the Fort Union of Montana. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 83 (2981): 221–244.

[T90] Thewissen, J. G. M. 1990. Evolution of Paleocene and Eocene Phenacodontidae (Mammalia, Condylarthra). Museum of Paleontology Papers on Paleontology 29: 1–107.

[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.