{{Short description|Clade of mammals}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Epitheria | fossil_range = Late Cretaceous - Recent | image = Boreoeutheria.png | image2 = Afrotheria.jpg | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Epitheria | subdivision_ranks = Orders and Clades | subdivision = *Superorder '''Afrotheria:''' **''Clade'' Afroinsectiphilia **''Clade'' Paenungulata *Magnorder '''Boreoeutheria:''' **Superorder Laurasiatheria **Superorder Euarchontoglires }}
'''Epitherians''' comprise all the placental mammals except the Xenarthra. They are primarily characterized by having a stirrup-shaped stapes in the middle ear, which allows for passage of a blood vessel. This is in contrast to the column-shaped stapes found in marsupials, monotremes, and xenarthrans. They are also characterized by having a shorter fibula relative to the tibia.
Epitheria like Xenarthra and Afrotheria originated after the K-Pg boundary {{Mya|66}}, with the placental diversification occurring within the first hundred thousand years after the K-Pg event and the first modern placental orders began appearing 2–3 million years later.<ref name="O'LearyBloch2013">{{cite journal|last1=O'Leary|first1=M. A.|last2=Bloch|first2=J. I.|last3=Flynn|first3=J. J.|last4=Gaudin|first4=T. J.|last5=Giallombardo|first5=A.|last6=Giannini|first6=N. P.|last7=Goldberg|first7=S. L.|last8=Kraatz|first8=B. P.|last9=Luo|first9=Z.-X.|last10=Meng|first10=J.|last11=Ni|first11=X.|last12=Novacek|first12=M. J.|last13=Perini|first13=F. A.|last14=Randall|first14=Z. S.|last15=Rougier|first15=G. W.|last16=Sargis|first16=E. J.|last17=Silcox|first17=M. T.|last18=Simmons|first18=N. B.|last19=Spaulding|first19=M.|last20=Velazco|first20=P. M.|last21=Weksler|first21=M.|last22=Wible|first22=J. R.|last23=Cirranello|first23=A. L.|s2cid=206544776|title=The Placental Mammal Ancestor and the Post-K-Pg Radiation of Placentals|journal=Science|volume=339|issue=6120|year=2013|pages=662–667|issn=0036-8075|doi=10.1126/science.1229237|pmid=23393258|bibcode=2013Sci...339..662O |hdl=11336/7302|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Epitheres are one of the most successful groups of animals.
The monophyly of Epitheria has been challenged by molecular phylogenetic studies.<ref>For example: {{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.tree.2004.05.006|title=Molecules consolidate the placental mammal tree |year=2004 |last1=Springer |first1=M. |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume=19 |issue=8 |pages=430–438 |pmid=16701301 }}</ref> While preliminary analysis of a set of retroposons shared by both Afrotheria, and Boreoeutheria (presence/absence data) supported the Epitheria clade,<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040091 | title=Retroposed Elements as Archives for the Evolutionary History of Placental Mammals | year=2006 | last1=Kriegs | first1=Jan Ole | last2=Churakov | first2=Gennady | last3=Kiefmann | first3=Martin | last4=Jordan | first4=Ursula | last5=Brosius | first5=Jürgen | last6=Schmitz | first6=Jürgen | journal=PLOS Biology | volume=4 | issue=4 | pages=e91 | pmid=16515367 | pmc=1395351 | doi-access=free }}</ref> more extensive analysis of such transposable element insertions around the time of the divergence of Xenarthra, Afrotheria, and Boreoeutheria strongly support the hypothesis of a near-concomitant origin (trifurcation) of these three superorders of mammals.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1073/pnas.0809297106 | title=Retroposon analysis and recent geological data suggest near-simultaneous divergence of the three superorders of mammals | year=2009 | last1=Nishihara | first1=Hidenori | last2=Maruyama | first2=Shigenori | last3=Okada | first3=Norihiro | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=106 | issue=13 | pages=5235–5240 | pmid=19286970 | pmc=2655268 | bibcode=2009PNAS..106.5235N | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1101/gr.090647.108 | title=Mosaic retroposon insertion patterns in placental mammals | year=2009 | last1=Churakov | first1=Gennady | last2=Kriegs | first2=Jan Ole | last3=Baertsch | first3=Robert | last4=Zemann | first4=Anja | last5=Brosius | first5=Jürgen | last6=Schmitz | first6=Jürgen | journal=Genome Research | volume=19 | issue=5 | pages=868–875 | pmid=19261842 | pmc=2675975 }}</ref>
Another analysis suggests that the root of this clade lies between the Atlantogenata and Boreoeutheria.<ref name=Song2012>{{cite journal | doi=10.1073/pnas.1211733109 | title=Resolving conflict in eutherian mammal phylogeny using phylogenomics and the multispecies coalescent model | year=2012 | last1=Song | first1=Sen | last2=Liu | first2=Liang | last3=Edwards | first3=Scott V. | last4=Wu | first4=Shaoyuan | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=109 | issue=37 | pages=14942–14947 | pmid=22930817 | pmc=3443116 | bibcode=2012PNAS..10914942S | doi-access=free }}</ref>
{{clade |label1=Placentalia |1={{clade |1=Xenarthra |label2='''Epitheria''' |2={{clade |1=Afrotheria |label2=Boreoeutheria |2={{clade | 1=Euarchontoglires | 2=Laurasiatheria}} }} }} }}
== Alternative hypotheses == Alternative hypotheses place either Atlantogenata and Boreoeutheria, or Afrotheria and Exafroplacentalia (Notolegia) at the base of the tree:
{{clade | label1=Placentalia | 1={{clade |label1=Atlantogenata | 1={{clade | 1=Xenarthra | 2=Afrotheria}} | label2=Boreoeutheria | 2={{clade | 1=Euarchontoglires | 2=Laurasiatheria}} }} }}
{{clade |label1=Placentalia |1={{clade |1=Afrotheria |label2=Exafroplacentalia |2={{clade |1=Xenarthra |label2=Boreoeutheria |2={{clade | 1=Euarchontoglires | 2=Laurasiatheria}} }} }} }}
One Bayesian analysis places the root between Atlantogenata and Boreoeutheria.<ref name=Morgan2013>{{cite journal | last1 = Morgan | first1 = CC | last2 = Foster | first2 = PG | last3 = Webb | first3 = AE | last4 = Pisani | first4 = D | last5 = McInerney | first5 = JO | last6 = O'Connell | first6 = MJ | year = 2013 | title = Heterogeneous models place the root of the placental mammal phylogeny | journal = Molecular Biology and Evolution| volume = 30 | issue = 9| pages = 2145–256 | doi = 10.1093/molbev/mst117 | pmid = 23813979 | pmc = 3748356 }}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{cite journal |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040111 |title=Resolving the Family Tree of Placental Mammals |year=2006 |last1=Gross |first1=Liza |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=e111 |pmid=20076552 |pmc=1395350 |doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |url=http://www.jsbi.org/journal/GIW01/GIW01F15.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423053845/http://www.jsbi.org/journal/GIW01/GIW01F15.html |archive-date=2010-04-23 |pmid= 11791233|year=2001 |last1=Waddell |first1=P. J. |last2=Kishino |first2=H. |last3=Ota |first3=R. |title=A phylogenetic foundation for comparative mammalian genomics |journal=Genome Informatics |volume=12 |pages=141–154 }} * {{cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.0334222100|title=Placental mammal diversification and the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary |year=2003 |last1=Springer |first1=Mark S. |last2=Murphy |first2=William J. |last3=Eizirik |first3=Eduardo |last4=O'Brien |first4=Stephen J. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=1056–1061 |pmid=12552136 |pmc=298725 |bibcode=2003PNAS..100.1056S |doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.0511344103 |title=Evolution of the mammalian placenta revealed by phylogenetic analysis |year=2006 |last1=Wildman |first1=Derek E. |last2=Chen |first2=Caoyi |last3=Erez |first3=Offer |last4=Grossman |first4=Lawrence I. |last5=Goodman |first5=Morris |last6=Romero |first6=Roberto |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=103 |issue=9 |pages=3203–3208 |pmid=16492730 |pmc=1413940 |bibcode=2006PNAS..103.3203W |doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |title=Early History of Mammals is Elucidated with the ENCODE Multiple Species Sequencing Data |year=2007 |last1=Nikolaev |first1=Sergey |last2=Montoya-Burgos |first2=Juan I. |last3=Margulies |first3=Elliott H. |last4=Program |first4=Nisc Comparative Sequencing |last5=Rougemont |first5=Jacques |last6=Nyffeler |first6=Bruno |last7=Antonarakis |first7=Stylianos E. |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=e2 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0030002 |pmid=17206863 |pmc=1761045 |s2cid=1982092 |doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |doi=10.1101/gr.090647.108 |title=Mosaic retroposon insertion patterns in placental mammals |year=2009 |last1=Churakov |first1=Gennady |last2=Kriegs |first2=Jan Ole |last3=Baertsch |first3=Robert |last4=Zemann |first4=Anja |last5=Brosius |first5=Jürgen |last6=Schmitz |first6=Jürgen |journal=Genome Research |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=868–875 |pmid=19261842 |pmc=2675975 }}
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Category:Obsolete mammal taxa