Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: ParaHoxozoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Olfactores
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Metopophora
Cladus: Haptodontiformes
Cladus: Sphenacomorpha
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Cladus: Eutheriodontia
Cladus: Cynodontia
Cladus: Epicynodontia
Cladus: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus: Mammaliamorpha
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Cladus: Theriimorpha
Cladus: Theriiformes
Cladus: Trechnotheria
Cladus: Cladotheria
Cladus: Prototribosphenida
Cladus: Zatheria
Cladus: Tribosphenida
Cladus: Boreosphenida
Subclassis: Theria
Cladus: Eutheria
Infraclassis: Placentalia
Magnordo: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Euarchontoglires
Grandordo: Euarchonta
Mirordo: Primatomorpha
Ordo: Dermoptera
Familia: † Mixodectidae
Genera: Mixodectes - Dracontolestes
Name
Mixodectidae (Cope, 1883)
Mixodectidae (from Greek μιξο, mixo, "mixed", and δεκτες, dektes "biter") is an extinct family of insectivorous placental mammals in the order Dermoptera. The mixodectids originated in the late Cretaceous and survived into the Paleocene in Europe and North America.[2]
Description
While there is less anatomical evidence for this group than for other archaic placental families (such as apatemyids, pantolestids, leptictids, and palaeoryctids), preserved dental and cranial anatomies give an idea of mixodectid dietary requirements. Their rodent-like dental pattern was similar to that of the multituberculates, with a pair of large, strong, and forward-directed incisors and a row of multi-cusped and low-crowned premolars and molars — a specialized dental set-up probably used for crushing and opening hard seeds and nuts.[2]
Torrejonian (Middle Paleocene) Mixodectidae had a dental set-up similar to the oldest plagiomenids and are therefore supposedly an ancestral or sister group of the latter. For many years Elipdophorus, the oldest plagiomenid, was classified as Mixodectidae but was finally regarded as more closely related to plagiomenids in the 1970s based on derived dental resemblances. Though the relation between Mixodectidae and other early placental mammals from the "insectivore-primate transition" remain unclear, clearly a number of the archaic mixodectid dental features seem to foreshadow the more derived conditions of plagiomenids. Furthermore, the postcranial skeleton of Mixodectes shows arboreal specialization similar to those of plesiadapids and dermopterans, supporting their inclusion within Euarchonta. [3]
See also
Colugo
Planetetherium
Notes
Mixodectidae in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved January 2010.
Agusti & Anton 2002, p. 5
Rose 2006, p. 164
References
Agusti, Jordi; Anton, Mauricio (2002). Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11640-3.
Rose, Kenneth David (2006). The beginning of the age of mammals. JHU Press. ISBN 0-8018-8472-1.
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