Palæos:		Unit 480: Archonta
The Vertebrates		100: Archonta

Archonta

EUTHERIA
|--INSECTIVORA 
`--+--+--ANAGALIDA  
   |  `--Archonta
   |     |--+--Scandentia 
   |     |  `--Primatomorpha
   |     |     |--Plesiadapiformes
   |     |     `--Primates
   |     |        |--Strepsirhini
   |     |        `--Haplorhini
   |     |           |--Tarsiiformes
   |     |           `--Anthropoidea
   |     |              |--Platyrrhini
   |     |              `--Hominoidea
   |     `--CHIROPTERA
   `--+--FERAE
      `--UNGULATOMORPHA  

Taxa on This Page

1. Archonta

2. Plesiadapiformes X

3. Primatomorpha

4. Scandentia

Descriptions

Archonta: primates, tree shrews, and bats. = bat + man?

Range: from the Late Cretaceous.

Phylogeny: Epitheria :::: Anagalida + * : (Scandentia + Primatomorpha) + (Dermoptera + Chiroptera). 

Links: Phylo.gen; Entrez-PubMed; Entrez-PubMed; Entrez-PubMed (very good, particularly for a molecular paper); Entrez-PubMed; Entrez-PubMed; Main Page; octobr21.html; septhreo.html; octotwo.html; Salles; Order CHIROPTERA; Basal Archonta;

Note: there is little or no agreement on why this is a clade, although multiple lines of evidence suggest that there is something here. The greatest controversy seems to be whether the bats belong here.

Scandentia: (= Tupaioidea): Ptilocercus, tree shrews (Tupaia), Urogale. Squirrel-like omnivores of S and SE Asian forests & esp. Borneo & Philippines. 

Range: from the Middle Eocene, possibly Paleocene.

Phylogeny: Archonta :: Primatomorpha + *. 

Characters: Long, narrow skull; dental formula: 2/3, 1/1, 3/3, 3/3; I 1&2 are caniniform; C1 reduced; d1-2 form tooth comb; upper molars with cutting surfaces & dilambdodont; lower molars basic tribosphenic form; snout long & pointed; vibrissae absent; some arboreal species have forward-facing eyes & may have binocular vision; orbits completely surrounded with bone; well-developed postorbital process joins zygomatic arch; zygomatic arch complete, with prominent fenestra; relatively large brain (esp. arboreal forms); auditory bulla complete, formed from entotympanic; tail long & heavily furred; pubic bones united in a long symphysis; digits 5/5; 1st digits point somewhat inward with some grasping ability; all digits have claws; scrotal testes; opportunistic foragers, both arboreal & terrestrial; frequently frugivorous or insectivorous, with simple gut, small cecum; highly active and voracious; leaping runners (scansorial?); mostly diurnal; some have permanent social groups with dominance hierarchy; vocalizations; territoriality & scent-marking common; substantial time spent foraging at ground level; altricial young; tail used in communication. 

Image: (right) © Alan Hill, by permission.

Links: Brain Collections: SCANDENTIA; Order Scandentia/ Family Tupaiidae; Scandentia; Entrez-PubMed (closer to rabbits?); Insectivores; Lapins : ronger ne veut pas dire ÊTRE rongeur (French); Lecture 12 - Mac/Der/Scan. (may be Best on the Web); Insectivores; Genus Tupaia (skulls); Scandentia (MH); Morphological Synapomorphies of Chiroptera; What is a Tree Shrew?; tupaia_tana.html; Scandentia; APUS.RU  (Russian); Scandentia - Tany (Czech); Scandentia (tree ìshrewsî).   ATW021206.

Primatomorpha: monkeys > tree shrews? Originally defined as Dermoptera + Primates.  

Range: from the Late Cretaceous?

Phylogeny: Archonta : Scandentia + * : Plesiadapiformes + Primates.

Notes: Molecular phylogenies usually include the dermopteran bats among the primatomorphs.

Image: from ples.

Links: Ant hills, Cretaceous mammals, and Purgatorious; THE THERIAN CLADE; JVP 22(3) September 2002-ABSTRACTS 31A (Bloch et al. abstract on p. 7); Evidence for a Paleocene Evolutionary Radiation; New Basicrania of Paleocene-Eocene Ignacius - Re-Evaluation of ....  ATW021109.

Plesiadapiformes:  

Range: Paleocene to Late Eocene of Asia, North America & Europe

Phylogeny: Primatomorpha : Primates + *.

Characters: very small to large squirrel sized; snout long; orbits face laterally; postorbital bar absent (plesiomorphic); auditory bulla absent; floor of middle ear chamber derived from entotympanic; lower incisors large; diastema present; tail long; flexible hands/feet; opposable digits probably absent; digital nails absent; arboreal and terrestrial, with some gliders.

Image: from Primate Fossils.  

Links: A Taxonomy of the Plesiadapiformes; PHALANGEAL MORPHOLOGY OF PALEOCENE PLESIADAPIFORMES (MAMMALIA- - ...; STRATOCLADISTIC ANALYSIS OF PALEOCENE CARPOLESTIDAE (MAMMALIA, ...; Fossil Remains- The Plesiadapiforms and the Origins of the ...; Evolutionary Morphology; New Basicrania of Paleocene-Eocene Ignacius - Re-Evaluation of ...; North American Fossil Mammal Systematics Database; Plesiadapiformes (Mikko's Phylogeny); Paleocene mammals of the world (extensive, well-written discussion); Evolution of Primates (lecture notes on primate evolution); ples (useful graphics).    ATW030706. 

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