Carnivoramorpha

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Carnivoramorpha
Fossil range: Paleocene - Recent

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
(unranked)	Carnivoramorpha

Superfamilies

Miacoidea
Viverraroidea
Carnivora
Caniformia
Feliformia

Carnivoramorpha are a crown-clade order of mammals that include the Carnivora and Miacoidea, but not Creodonta. The earlier Order Creodonta are thought to be a sister taxon to the Order Carnivoramorpha. Carnivoramorpha is phylogenetically defined as "Carnivora and the fossil taxa within Miacoidea" by Wyss and Flynn (1993)). The oldest carnivoramorphans are the Viverravids. The oldest generally accepted Viverravid is Protictis from the Fort Union/Polecat Bench Formation, assigned to the basal, and dated at 63.6–62.5 million years ago. Ravenictis from Canada may also be a carnivoramorphan and this extends this date back to at least the Puercan (65.4–64.3 mya). The extinct Order Creodonta is a sister group to the Order Carnivoramorpha and dates back to the Thanetian, 58.7–55.8 mya (Benton, 2007).

The First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting (2004) states: “Modification of the upper fourth premolar (P4) and lower first molar (m1) as carnassial teeth has been considered a synapomorphy for carnivorans, here we follow a recent convention employing the name Carnivoramorpha for that clade and restricting the meaning of the widely known name Carnivora to the smaller crown clade delimited by the extant species regarded as carnivorans. Accordingly, Carnivoramorpha is here defined as the smallest clade containing the earliest organism to have the P4/m1 carnassial shear synapomorphic with that in Felis catus. Morphological and molecular evidence indicates that the carnivoran Aeluroid, Cynoid and Arctoid clades share an exclusive common ancestry. Species representing these three major carnivoran clades are used as specifiers in the definition of Carnivora, which is here defined as the smallest clade containing Felis catus, Canis familiaris and Mustela erminea.”

1 Evolution
2 Classification
3 Cladogram
4 References

[edit] Evolution

When Carnivoramorpha first emerged in the Paleocene they were not the only group of terrestrial meat-eating mammals present. The Creodonta, comprised of the Oxyaenids (robust, short-limbed wolverine forms) and the Hyaenodontids (slender-limbed, semi-cursorial forms), were also present and were well on their way toward their maximum speciation, which occurred in the middle Eocene era. Judging from their dentitions, many were specialized meat eaters and must be included in any study addressing the evolution of mammalian carnivory. In North America few creodonts survived past the Eocene, and all were extinct by the late Oligocene. The taxonomic decline of Creodonta at the end of the Eocene coincided with the beginning of the speciation and radiation of the Carnivora, and the origination of most modern carnivore families. Regardless of whether this was taxonomic displacement or replacement this pattern has generated the hypothesis that the diversification of carnivorans was suppressed by the incumbent creodonts early in their history (Stiles, 2005).

The first carnivores likely arose from a small insectivorous mammal found in the middle Eocene era, a time of rapid differentiation for mammalian species. The earliest known members of the carnivores are rarely found as fossilized bones; most often they are recovered strictly as tooth samples and partial jaw fragments. These pioneering species are classified in the Miacidae clade, which is morphologically separable into two lineages, the Viverravines and the Miacines. Both members of these lineages display dental features that are typically characteristic of carnivores, shearing teeth known as carnassials along with the presence of a transverse jaw hinge. The main difference in these early Miacidae members is found in their dentition, the Miacines resemble the caniforms while the Viverravines resemble the feliforms.

[edit] Classification

Order Carnivoramorpha (basal to Carnivora but without Creodontes)
- Order (inclusive of) Carnivora
- Superfamily †Miacoidea
  - Family †Miacidae
    - genera: Chailicyon, Eostictis, Ictognathus, Miacis, Miocyon, Oodectes, Palaearctonyx, Paramiacis, Paroodectes, Prodaphaemus, Tapocyon, Uintacyon, Vassacyon, Vulpavus, Xinyuictis, Ziphacodon
  - Family †Viverravidae
    - genera: Bryanictis, Didymictis, Ictidopappus, Mustelodon, Pristinictis, Protictis, Raphictis, Simpsonictis, Viverravus, Quergygale
- Superfamily Caniformia or Canoidea
  - Family †Amphicyonidae
  - Family Canidae
  - Family Mephitidae
  - Family Mustelidae
  - Family Odobenidae
  - Family Otariidae
  - Family Phocidae
  - Family Procyonidae
  - Family Ursidae
  - Family Ailuridae
    - Subfamily Ailurinae
      - Genus Ailuris (Red Panda)
    - Subfamily Amphictinae
    - Subfamily Simocyoninae
- Superfamily Feliformia or Feloidea
  - Family Eupleridae
  - Family Felidae
  - Family Herpestidae
  - Family Hyaenidae
  - Family Viverridae
  - Family Nandiniidae
    - Genus Nandinia (African Palm Civet)
  - Family Prionodontidae (Linsangs)
    - Genus Prionodon

[edit] Cladogram

Carnivoramorpha
  |?- †Aelurotherium
  |?- †Eosictis
  |?- †Elmensius
  |?- †Intyrictis vanvaleni 
  |?- †Notoamphicyon
  |?- †Ravenictis krausei or cimolestan
  |?- †Vishnucyon
  `--+-- †Viverravidae [Viverraroidea]
     `--+-- †Oodectes [paraphyletic Miacoidea: Miacidae]
        |  |-- †O. herpestoides
        |  |-- †O. proximus
        |  `-- †O. jepseni
        `--+-- †Vulpavus [paraphyletic Miacoidea: Miacidae]
           |  |-- †V. canavus
           |  |-- †V. australis
           |  |-- †V. palustris 
           |  |-- †V. profectus
           |  `-- †V. ovatus
           `--+-- †Miacis
              `--+--+-- †Tapocyon [paraphyletic Miacoidea: Miacidae]
                 |  |  |-- †T. dawsonae
                 |  |  `-- †T. robustus
                 |  `--+-- †Miacis sylvestris
                 |     `-- †Prohesperocyon wilsoni
                 `--+-- †Quergygale angustidens [Viverra; “Cynodon” helveticus]
                    `-- Carnivora
                       |-- Caniformia
                       `-- Aeluroidea

[edit] References

Archibold, J.D., and K.D. Rose (eds.). (2005). “The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origins and Relationships of the Major Clades.” Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-8022-X
Archibold, J.D., and K.D. Rose. (2005). “Womb with a View: the Rise of Placentals.” [[1]]
Benton, Michael J. and Philip C.J. Donoghue. (2007). “Paleontological Evidence to Date the Tree of Life.” Dating the Tree of Life 31. [[2]]
Bryant, H.N., and M. Wolson (2004) “Phylogenetic Nomenclature of Carnivoran Mammals.” First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting. Paris, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, July 6-9, 2004. [[3]]
Flynn, John J. and Gina D. Wesley-Hunt. 2005. "Phylogeny of the Carnivora: Basal Relationships Among the Carnivoramorphans, and Assessment of the Position of 'Miacoidea' Relative to Carnivora." Journal of Systematic Paleontology, 3: 1-28. Abstract: [[4]]
Haaramo, Mikko. (2005). “Mikko's Phylogeny Archive Carnivoramorpha - Carnivores and relatives.” Retreived February 17, 2007, from: [[5]]
Stiles, David P. (2005). “An investigation of the Vulpes and Urocyon phylogenetic classification: Feliformia or Caniformia?” Fox Phylogeny. Vertebrate Evolution – Fall 2005, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA. [[6]]
Wesley-Hunt, Gina D. (2006). “The Morphological Diversification of Carnivores in North America.” Paleobiology. Vol. 31, Issue 1, pp. 35-55. [[7]]
Wyss, A. R. & Flynn, J. J. (1993). “A Phylogenetic Analysis and Definition of the Carnivora.” in Mammal Phylogeny – Placentals, Szalay, F.S., M.J. Novacek and M.C. McKenna (eds.). ISBN 0387978534.