Plesiadapidae

Taxobox
name = Plesiadapidae
fossil_range = early Paleocene - early Eocene

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image_width = 200px
image_caption="Plesiadapis"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
infraclassis = Eutheria
superordo = Euarchontoglires
ordo = †Plesiadapiformes
superfamilia = †Plesiadapoidea
familia = †Plesiadapidae
familia_authority = Trouessart, 1897
subfamilia = †Plesiadapinae
subfamilia_authority = (Trouessart, 1897)
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = †"Pronothodectes"
†"Chiromyoides"
†"Nannodectes"
†"Plesiadapis"
†"Platychoerops"
†"Jattadectes"

Plesiadapidae is a family of plesiadapiform mammals related to primates known from the Paleocene and Eocene of North America, Europe, and Asia.cite book | author = McKenna, M. C, and S. K. Bell | year = 1997 | title = Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level | publisher = Columbia University Press | id = ISBN 023111012X] cite journal | author = Thewissen, J.G.M., Williams, E.M., and Hussain, S.T. | year = 2001 | title = Eocene mammal faunas from northern Indo-Pakistan | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 347–366 | doi = 10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021 [0347:EMFFNI] 2.0.CO;2 | doilabel = 10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0347:EMFFNI]2.0.CO;2] Plesiadapids were abundant in the late Paleocene, and their fossils are often used to establish the ages of fossil faunas.cite journal | author = Gingerich, P.D. | year = 1976 | title = Cranial anatomy and evolution of early Tertiary Plesiadapidae (Mammalia, Primates) | journal = University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology | volume = 15 | issue = | pages = 1–141 | url = http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/48615]

Classification

McKenna and Bell recognized two subfamilies (Plesiadapinae and Saxonellinae) and one unassigned genus ("Pandemonium") within Plesiadapidae. More recently "Saxonella" (the only saxonelline) and "Pandemonium" have been excluded from the family,cite journal | author = Silcox, M.T., Krause, D.W., Maas, M.C., and Fox, R.C. | year = 2001 | title = New specimens of "Elphidotarsius russelli" (Mammalia, ?Primates, Carpolestidae) and a revision of plesiadapoid relationships | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 21 | issue = 1 | pages = 132–152 | doi = 10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021 [0132:NSOERM] 2.0.CO;2 | doilabel = 10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0132:NSOERM]2.0.CO;2] leaving only a redundant Plesiadapinae. Within the family, "Pronothodectes" is the likely ancestor of all other genera, while "Plesiadapis" may be directly ancestral to both "Chiromyoides" and "Platychoerops".

References