Carnivoramorpha ("carnivoran-like forms") is a clade of placental mammals of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder Ferae, that includes the modern order Carnivora and its extinct stem-relatives.[4][5]

Carnivoramorpha
Temporal range: 66.043–0 Ma early Paleocene to present
Diversity of Carnivoramorpha
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Mirorder: Ferae
Clade: Pan-Carnivora
Clade: Carnivoramorpha
Wyss & Flynn, 1993[1]
Subgroups
Synonyms
  • Carnivora (Rose, 2012)[2]
  • Carnivoramoepha (Matsui & Kimura, 2022)[3]
  • Carnivoramomorpha (Wyss & Flynn, 1993)

General characteristics edit

The common feature for members of this clade is the presence of the carnassial teeth. The carnassial teeth of the Carnivoramorpha are upper premolar P4 and lower molar m1.[6]

Comparison of carnassial teeth of a carnivoran (wolf), a hyaenodontid (Hyaenodon) and an oxyaenid (Oxyaena)
skull of wolf

Classification and phylogeny edit

Traditional classification edit

Revised classification edit

Recent phylogenetic studies indicate that the superfamily Miacoidea and family Miacidae are paraphyletic, with "miacids" being more closely related to carnivorans than to viverravids. In 2010 Flynn, Finarelli & Spaulding named a new clade Carnivoraformes within Carnivoramorpha, containing carnivorans and "miacids" but not viverravids.[7] The authors defined Carnivoraformes as the clade containing Carnivora and all taxa that are more closely related to Carnivora (represented by Canis lupus) than to viverravids (represented by Viverravus gracilis).

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Wyss, A. R. & Flynn, J. J. (1993.) “A Phylogenetic Analysis and Definition of the Carnivora.” in "Mammal Phylogeny – Placentals", Szalay, F. S., M. J. Novacek and M. C. McKenna (eds.). ISBN 978-0-387-97853-6
  2. ^ K. D. Rose, A. E. Chew, R. H. Dunn, M. J. Kraus, H. C. Fricke and S. P. Zack (2012.) "Earliest Eocene mammalian fauna from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum at Sand Creek Divide, southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming." University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 36:1-122
  3. ^ Matsui, K.; Kimura, Y. (2022). "A "Mammalian-like" Pycnodont Fish: Independent Acquisition of Thecodont Implantation, True Vertical Replacement, and Carnassial Dentitions in Carnivorous Mammals and a Peculiar Group of Pycnodont Fish". Life. 12 (2): Article 250. Bibcode:2022Life...12..250M. doi:10.3390/life12020250. PMC 8878644. PMID 35207537.
  4. ^ Bryant, H.N., and M. Wolson (2004) “Phylogenetic Nomenclature of Carnivoran Mammals.” First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting. Paris, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle
  5. ^ Solé, Floréal; Smith, Richard; Coillot, Tiphaine; de Bast, Eric; Smith, Thierry (2014). "Dental and tarsal anatomy of Miacis latouri and a phylogenetic analysis of the earliest carnivoraforms (Mammalia, Carnivoramorpha)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.793195. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 86207013.
  6. ^ Floréal Solé & Thierry Smith (2013.) "Dispersals of placental carnivorous mammals (Carnivoramorpha, Oxyaenodonta & Hyaenodontida) near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary: a climatic and almost worldwide story" Geologica Belgica 16/4: 254-261
  7. ^ Flynn, John J.; Finarelli, John A.; Spaulding, Michelle (2010). "Phylogeny of the Carnivora and Carnivoramorpha, and the use of the fossil record to enhance understanding of evolutionary transformations". In Goswami, Anjali; Friscia, Anthony (eds.). Carnivoran evolution. New views on phylogeny, form and function. Cambridge University Press. pp. 25–63. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139193436.003. ISBN 9781139193436.

Further reading edit