Carnivoramorpha ("carnivoran-like forms") is a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

placental mammals Placental mammals ( infraclass Placentalia ) are one of the three extant subdivisions of the class Mammalia, the other two being Monotremata and Marsupialia. Placentalia contains the vast majority of extant mammals, which are partly distinguish ...

of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder

Ferae Ferae ( , , "wild beasts") is a mirorder of Placentalia, placental mammals in grandorder Ferungulata, that groups together clades Pan-Carnivora (that includes carnivorans and their fossil relatives) and Pholidotamorpha (pangolins and their fossi ...

, that includes the modern order

Carnivora Carnivora ( ) is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species. Carnivor ...

and its

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

stem-relatives.Bryant, H.N., and M. Wolson (2004
“Phylogenetic Nomenclature of Carnivoran Mammals.”
''First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting''. Paris, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle

General characteristics

The common feature for members of this clade is the presence of the

carnassial Carnassials are paired upper and lower teeth modified in such a way as to allow enlarged and often self-sharpening edges to pass by each other in a shearing manner. This adaptation is found in carnivorans, where the carnassials are the modified f ...

teeth. The carnassial teeth of the Carnivoramorpha are upper

premolar The premolars, also called premolar Tooth (human), teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the Canine tooth, canine and Molar (tooth), molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per dental terminology#Quadrant, quadrant in ...

P4 and lower molar m1.Floréal Solé & Thierry Smith (2013.
"Dispersals of placental carnivorous mammals (Carnivoramorpha, Oxyaenodonta & Hyaenodontida) near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary: a climatic and almost worldwide story"
Geologica Belgica 16/4: 254-261

Classification and phylogeny

Traditional classification

Revised classification

Recent phylogenetic studies indicate that the superfamily Miacoidea and family Miacidae are

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

, with "miacids" being more closely related to carnivorans than to viverravids. In 2010 Flynn, Finarelli & Spaulding named a new clade Carnivoraformes within Carnivoramorpha, containing carnivorans and "miacids" but not viverravids. The authors defined Carnivoraformes as the clade containing Carnivora and all taxa that are more closely related to Carnivora (represented by ''

Canis lupus The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

'') than to viverravids (represented by '' Viverravus gracilis'').

References

* C. M. Janis, J. A. Baskin, A. Berta, J. J. Flynn, G. F. Gunnell, R. M. Hunt jr., L. D. Martin, and K. Munthe (1998.) "Carnivorous mammals." In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (''eds.''
"Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulatelike Mammals."
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. * K. D. Rose and J. D. Archibold (2005
"The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origins and Relationships of the Major Extant Clades"
Baltimore and London, Johns Hopkins University Press * K. D. Rose and J. D. Archibold (2005
"Womb with a View: the Rise of Placentals."
In: K. D. Rose and J. D. Archibol
"The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origins and Relationships of the Major Extant Clades"
Baltimore and London, Johns Hopkins University Press * * Stiles, David P. (2005
investigation of the ''Vulpes'' and ''Urocyon'' phylogenetic classification: Feliformia or Caniformia?”
Fox Phylogeny. Vertebrate Evolution – Fall 2005, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA. * * Wesley-Hunt, Gina D. (2005
“The Morphological Diversification of Carnivores in North America.”
Paleobiology. Vol. 31, Issue 1, pp. 35–55. * Benton, Michael J. and Philip C. J. Donoghue (2007
“Paleontological Evidence to Date the Tree of Life.”
Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 24, Issue 1, Pages 26–53 * * * Susumu Tomiya, Shawn P. Zack, Michelle Spaulding and John J. Flynn (2019.) "Carnivorous mammals from the Middle Eocene Washakie formation, Wyoming, U.S.A., and their diversity trajectory in a post-warming world", in
"The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 79th annual meeting"
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1002374 Mammal unranked clades

General characteristics

Classification and phylogeny

Traditional classification

Revised classification

See also

References

Further reading