Invalid superorder of mammals
The Archonta are a now-abandoned group of mammals, considered a superorder in some classifications, which consists of these orders:
While bats were traditionally included in the Archonta, genetic analysis has suggested that bats actually belong in Laurasiatheria .[ 1] A revised category excluding bats, Euarchonta , has been proposed.[ 2] [ 3]
This taxon may have arisen in the Early Cretaceous (more than 100 million years ago), so other models may explain mammalian evolution besides an explosive radiation from a single surviving lineage following the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction of the Mesozoic megafauna ,[ 4] such as a series of prior radiations related to the breakup of Gondwana and Laurasia allowing for more survivors.[ 5] [ 6]
References
^ Van de Bussche, R. A.; Hoofer, S. R. (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships among recent chiropteran families and the importance of choosing appropriate out-group taxa" . Journal of Mammalogy . 85 (2): 321–330. doi :10.1644/1545-1542(2004)085<0321:Prarcf>2.0.Co;2 .
^ Adkins, RM; Honeycutt, RL (Nov 15, 1991). "Molecular phylogeny of the superorder Archonta" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 88 (22): 10317–21. Bibcode :1991PNAS...8810317A . doi :10.1073/pnas.88.22.10317 . PMC 52919 . PMID 1658802 .
^ Springer, MS; Stanhope, MJ; Madsen, O; de Jong, WW (August 2004). "Molecules consolidate the placental mammal tree". Trends in Ecology & Evolution . 19 (8): 430–8. doi :10.1016/j.tree.2004.05.006 . PMID 16701301 .
^ Penny, David; Phillips, Matthew J. (October 2004). "The rise of birds and mammals: are microevolutionary processes sufficient for macroevolution?" (PDF) . Trends in Ecology & Evolution . 19 (10): 516–522. doi :10.1016/j.tree.2004.07.015 . PMID 16701316 .
^ Hedges, S. Blair; Kumar, Sudhir (30 April 1998). "A molecular timescale for vertebrate evolution" (PDF) . Nature . 392 (6679): 917–920. Bibcode :1998Natur.392..917K . doi :10.1038/31927 . PMID 9582070 . S2CID 205001573 . Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013 .
^ Hedges, SB; Parker, PH; Sibley, CG; Kumar, S (May 16, 1996). "Continental breakup and the ordinal diversification of birds and mammals" (PDF) . Nature . 381 (6579): 226–9. Bibcode :1996Natur.381..226H . doi :10.1038/381226a0 . PMID 8622763 . S2CID 4328989 . Archived from the original (PDF) on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013 .