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Paucituberculata is an order of South American marsupials. Although currently represented only by the seven living species of
shrew opossum The family Caenolestidae contains the seven surviving species of shrew opossum: small, shrew-like marsupials that are confined to the Andes mountains of South America. The order is thought to have diverged from the ancestral marsupial line very ...
s, this order was formerly much more diverse, with more than 60 extinct species named from the fossil record, particularly from the late Oligocene to early Miocene epochs. The earliest paucituberculatans date to the late Paleocene (
Itaboraian The Itaboraian ( pt, Itaboraiense) age is a period within the Early Eocene geologic time (53.0–50.0 Ma) epoch of the Paleogene, used more specifically with South American land mammal ages (SALMA). It follows the Riochican and precedes the Casa ...
South American land mammal age). The group went through a pronounced decline in the middle Miocene epoch, which resulted in the extinction of all families of this order except for the living
shrew opossums The family Caenolestidae contains the seven surviving species of shrew opossum: small, shrew-like marsupials that are confined to the Andes mountains of South America. The order is thought to have diverged from the ancestral marsupial line very ...
(Caenolestidae). Extinct families of Paucituberculatans include Pichipilidae, Palaeothentidae, and Abderitidae.


Classification

It is one of two clades of
Ameridelphia Ameridelphia is traditionally a superorder that includes all marsupials living in the Americas except for the Monito del monte (''Dromiciops''). It is now regarded as a paraphyletic group. Orders The orders within this group are listed below: ...
, a paraphyletic group; genetic studies have shown these animals to be a sister group to
Australidelphia Australidelphia is the superorder that contains roughly three-quarters of all marsupials, including all those native to Australasia and a single species — the monito del monte — from South America. All other American marsupials are members o ...
(i.e., Didelphimorphia branched off first). The Paucituberculata were once considered to be closely related to South American
polydolopimorph Polydolopimorphia is an extinct order of metatherians, more closely related to extant marsupials than other extinct mammals. Known from the Paleocene-Pliocene of South America and the Eocene of Antarctica, they were a diverse group during the Pa ...
metatherians, however phylogenetic analyses have found this is not true.


Subdivision

The order is subdivided into:Abello, 2007, p.410Paucituberculata
at
Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was crea ...
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* †'' Bardalestes'' * †'' Evolestes'' * †'' Fieratherium'' * †'' Riolestes'' * Superfamily Caenolestoidea ** Family
Caenolestidae The family Caenolestidae contains the seven surviving species of shrew opossum: small, shrew-like marsupials that are confined to the Andes mountains of South America. The order is thought to have diverged from the ancestral marsupial line very ...
*** ''
Caenolestes The common shrew opossums (genus ''Caenolestes'') are members of the family Caenolestidae. They are found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República ...
'' *** '' Lestoros'' *** †'' Pseudhalmarhiphus'' *** ''
Rhyncholestes The long-nosed caenolestid (''Rhyncholestes raphanurus''), also known as the Chilean shrew opossum or long-nosed shrew opossum, is a shrew opossum that occurs in temperate forests of Argentina and southern Chile. It was first described by Americ ...
'' *** †'' Stilotherium'' * Superfamily † Palaeothentoidea Palaeothentoidea
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Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was crea ...
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** †'' Perulestes'' ** †'' Pilchenia'' ** †'' Sasawatsu'' ** Family † Pichipilidae *** †'' Pichipilus'' *** †'' Phonocdromus'' *** †'' Pliolestes'' *** †'' Quirogalestes'' ** Family † Palaeothentidae *** †'' Antawallathentes'' *** †'' Carlothentes'' *** †'' Chimeralestes'' *** †'' Hondathentes'' ''Hondathenthes''
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Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was crea ...
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*** Subfamily † Palaeothentinae Paleothentidae
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Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was crea ...
.org
**** †'' Palaeothentes'' **** †'' Palaepanorthus'' **** †'' Propalaeothentes'' *** Subfamily † Decastinae **** †'' Acdestis'' **** †'' Acdestoides'' **** †'' Acdestodon'' **** †'' Titanothentes'' **** †'' Trelewthentes'' ** Family † Abderitidae *** †''
Abderites Abderites or Abderite may refer to: *People associated with the ancient city of Abdera, Thrace *Adherents of the philosophical school of Abdera *Abderite, a reference to Democritus, native of Abdera; later acquired the generic meaning of "scoffer ...
'' *** †'' Pitheculites'' *** †'' Parabderites''


References


Bibliography

* Marsupials Mammal orders Marsupials of South America Neogene mammals of South America Quaternary mammals of South America Extant Oligocene first appearances Taxa named by Édouard Louis Trouessart {{marsupial-stub