| Eocardiidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Skeletal restoration of Eocardia | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Superfamily: | Cavioidea |
| Family: | †
Eocardiidae Ameghino 1891 |
| Subfamilies and genera | |
| |
The Eocardiidae are an extinct family of caviomorph rodents from South America. The family is probably ancestral to the living family Caviidae, [1] which includes cavies, maras, and capybaras and their relatives. McKenna and Bell (1997) divided eocardiids into two subfamilies, Luantinae for two of the oldest genera ( Asteromys and Luantus) and Eocardiinae for remaining genera. Kramarz (2006) has recommended the abandonment of these subfamilies, as the genera placed in Luantinae appear to represent basal eocardiids, rather than a specialized side branch. The latter hypothesis had been proposed by Wood and Patterson (1959). [2]
Fossils of the family were found in the Colhuehuapian to Friasian Pinturas, Sarmiento, Santa Cruz, Río Jeinemeiní and Collón Curá Formations of Argentina and the Cura-Mallín Group of Chile. [3]
References
- ^ Kramarz, 2006
- ^ Wood & Patterson, 1959
- ^ Eocardiidae at Fossilworks.org
Bibliography
- Kramarz, Alejandro G. (2006). "Eocardiids (Rodentia, Hystricognathi) from the Pinturas Formation, late early Miocene of Patagonia, Argentina". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (3): 770–778. doi: 10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[770:erhftp]2.0.co;2. S2CID 130718741.
- Wood, A.E. and Patterson, B. 1959. Rodents of the Deseadan Oligocene of Patagonia and the beginnings of South American rodent evolution. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 120:281-428.
Further reading
- McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. ISBN 0-231-11013-8
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