Anagaloidea

Anagaloidea
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous–Early Oligocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Superorder: Euarchontoglires
Order: Anagaloidea
Families
  • Anagalidae
  • Pseudictopidae
  • Astigalidae?
  • Zalambdalestidae?

Anagaloidea is an extinct order of mammals, first appearing during the Cretaceous.

Taxonomy

According to the traditional (morphological) view, the Anagaloidea are part of the superorder Anagalida. The elephant shrews and the rodents and lagomorphs are considered to be part of this superorder as well.

However, the Anagalida are currently considered to be polyphyletic. Genetic studies has shown that the elephant shrews are actually part of a different macro-group of mammals called the Afrotheria, while the position of several extinct families of Anagalida is uncertain. The Zalambdalestidae are almost certainly unrelated to any of these groups - they probably represent more basal Eutherians and may even not be true Eutherians at all.

The Anagalidae and the Pseudictopidae probably represent a genuine clade. This clade is known as the Anagaloidea, which seem to be related to the rodents and lagomorphs after all. Together they form the clade Glires, often grouped with the Euarchonta to form the superorder Euarchontoglires.

Classification