Palaeoryctidae

Palaeoryctidae ("ancient diggers") is an extinct family of non-specialized eutherian mammals from extinct order Palaeoryctida, that lived in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa from the late Cretaceous to the middle Eocene.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Palaeoryctidae Temporal range: 70.0–42.0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Late Cretaceous - Middle Eocene
Palaeoryctes jepseni lower jaw fragment
Aceroryctes dulcis lower jaw fragment
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Eutheria
Infraclass:	Placentalia (?)
Order:	†Palaeoryctida Averianov, 2003[1]
Family:	†Palaeoryctidae Winge, 1917[2]
Type genus
†Palaeoryctes Matthew, 1913
Genera
[see classification]
Synonyms
synonyms of family: Palaeoryctae (Winge, 1917) Palaeoryctinae (Van Valen, 1966)[3] Palaeoryctoidea (Van Valen, 1966)

Description

From a near-complete skull of the genus Palaeoryctes found in New Mexico, it is known that palaeoryctids were small, shrew-like insectivores with an elongated snout similar to that of the leptictids. However, in contrast to the latter, little is known about palaeoryctids' postcranial anatomy (the skeleton without the skull).^[9] A 2024 study found shared cranial details between palaeoryctids and leptictids, suggesting a possible close relationship, plesiomorphic retentions, or convergent acquisitions.^[10] Where the leptictids were short-lived, the palaeoryctids seem to have been ancestors of Eocene species. While their dental morphology still indicate a mostly insectivorous diet, it, to some extent, also relate to Eocene carnivores such as creodonts.^[9]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

History of phylogeny

The relationship between this archaic group and other insectivorous mammals is uncertain.^[11][12] Palaeoryctidae was originally assigned to the now-abandoned grouping Insectivora by Sloan and Van Valen (1965), then to clade Proteutheria,^[7] and more recently to Eutheria by Scott et al. (2002).^[13]

Generally speaking Palaeoryctidae has been used as a wastebasket taxon for many archaic insectivorous mammals.^[14]

According to a 2022 study by Bertrand et al., palaeoryctids are identified to be a basal group of placental mammals.^[15]

Taxonomy

Order: †Palaeoryctida (Averianov, 2003) Family: †Palaeoryctidae (Winge, 1917) Genus: †Aceroryctes (Rankin & Holroyd, 2014) †Aceroryctes dulcis (Rankin & Holroyd, 2014) Genus: †Lainoryctes (Fox, 2004) †Lainoryctes youzwyshyni (Fox, 2004) Genus: †Nuryctes (Tong, 2003) †Nuryctes alayensis (Lopatin & Averianov, 2004) †Nuryctes gobiensis (Lopatin & Averianov, 2004) †Nuryctes qinlingensis (Tong, 1997) Genus: †Pinoryctes (Lopatin, 2006) †Pinoryctes collector (Lopatin, 2006) Subfamily: †Palaeoryctinae(paraphyletic subfamily) (Winge, 1917) Genus: †Aaptoryctes (Gingerich, 1982) †Aaptoryctes ivyi (Gingerich, 1982) Genus: †Eoryctes (Thewissen & Gingerich, 1989) †Eoryctes melanus (Thewissen & Gingerich, 1989) Genus: †Ottoryctes (Bloch, 2004) †Ottoryctes winkleri (Bloch, 2004) Genus: †Palaeoryctes(paraphyletic genus) (Matthew, 1913) †Palaeoryctes cruoris (Gunnell, 1994) †Palaeoryctes jepseni (Bloch, 2004) †Palaeoryctes minimus (Gheerbrant, 1992) †Palaeoryctes puercensis (Matthew, 1913) †Palaeoryctes punctatus (Van Valen, 1966) †Palaeoryctes sp. [Roche Percée, Saskatchewan, Canada] (Rankin, 2018) Incertae sedis: †Palaeoryctidae sp. [RI 343 & RI 355] (Godinot, 1981) †Palaeoryctidae sp. [Andarak 2, Osh, Kyrgyzstan] (Lopatin, 2006) †Palaeoryctidae sp. indet. 1 (Pol, 1992) †Palaeoryctidae sp. indet. 2 (Pol, 1992)