Adapisoricidae
Encyclopedia
Adapisoriculidae is an extinct family
of placental mammals present during the Paleocene
and possibly Cretaceous
. They were once thought to be members of the order Erinaceomorpha,
closely related to the Hedgehog
family (Erinaceidae
), because of their similar dentition, but they are now thought to be basal Euarchonta
ns. They were also thought to be Marsupials at one point. They were small placentals of about 15 cm long, with a tail of equal length. They were probably nocturnal, eating insects and fruits.
Deccanolestes
and Sahnitherium
from the Late Cretaceous
of India
may be Cretaceous members of Adapisoriculidae.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of placental mammals present during the Paleocene
Paleocene
The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...
and possibly Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. They were once thought to be members of the order Erinaceomorpha,
closely related to the Hedgehog
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
family (Erinaceidae
Erinaceidae
Erinaceidae is the only living family in the order Erinaceomorpha, which has recently been subsumed with Soricomorpha into the order Eulipotyphla...
), because of their similar dentition, but they are now thought to be basal Euarchonta
Euarchonta
The Euarchonta are a grandorder of mammals containing four orders: the Dermoptera or colugos, the Scandentia or treeshrews, the extinct Plesiadapiformes, and the Primates....
ns. They were also thought to be Marsupials at one point. They were small placentals of about 15 cm long, with a tail of equal length. They were probably nocturnal, eating insects and fruits.
Deccanolestes
Deccanolestes
Deccanolestes is a scansorial, basal Euarchontan from the Late Cretaceous Intertrappean Beds of Andhra Pradesh, India. It may be closely related to Sahnitherium...
and Sahnitherium
Sahnitherium
Sahnitherium is a possible basal Euarchontan from the Maastrichtian of the Intertrappean Beds of Andhra Pradesh, India. It may be closely related to Deccanolestes. The holotype is an upper molar, and it is the only specimen of Sahnitherium....
from the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
may be Cretaceous members of Adapisoriculidae.