Taeniodonta

Taeniodonta ("banded teeth") is an extinct order of eutherian mammals, that lived in North America and Europe from the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to the middle Eocene.

Taeniodonta Temporal range: Late Cretaceous - Middle Eocene
species from family Stylinodontidae
skull of Conoryctes comma
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Eutheria
Infraclass:	Placentalia (?)
Order:	†Taeniodonta Cope, 1876
Families
[see classification]
Synonyms
list of synonyms: Calamodontia (Haeckel, 1895) Ganodonta (Wortman, 1896) Stylinodontia (Haeckel, 1895) Stylinodontidae (Marsh, 1875) Taeniodontidae (Szalay, 1977)

Taeniodonts evolved quickly into highly specialized digging animals, and varied greatly in size, from rat-sized to species as large as a bear. Later species developed prominent front teeth and huge claws for digging and rooting. Some genera, like Stylinodon, had ever-growing teeth. The scarcity of taeniodont fossils can be explained by the fact that these animals probably lived in dry or arid climates unconductive to fossilization.

According to 2022 studies of Bertrand, O. C. and Sarah L. Shelley, taeniodonts are identified to be a basal placental mammal. Genera Alveugena, Ambilestes and Procerberus are the immediate outgroups to Taeniodonta.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Taxonomy

From Thomas E. Williamson and Stephen L. Brusatte (2013):

• Order: †Taeniodonta (Cope, 1876)
  • Genus: †Schowalteria (Fox & Naylor, 2003)
    • †Schowalteria clemensi (Fox & Naylor, 2003)
  • Family: †Conoryctidae (Wortman, 1896)
    • Subfamily: †Conoryctinae (Wortman, 1896)
      • Tribe: †Conoryctellini (Schoch, 1982)
        • Genus: †Conoryctella (Gazin, 1939)
          • †Conoryctella dragonensis (Gazin, 1939)
          • †Conoryctella pattersoni (Schoch & Lucas, 1981)
      • Tribe: †Conoryctini (Wortman, 1896)
        • Genus: †Conoryctes (Cope, 1881)
          • †Conoryctes comma (Cope, 1881)
        • Genus: †Huerfanodon (Schoch & Lucas, 1981)
          • †Huerfanodon heilprinianus (Cope, 1882)
          • †Huerfanodon polecatensis (Schoch & Lucas, 1981)
          • †Huerfanodon torrejonius (Schoch & Lucas, 1981)
    • Subfamily: †Eurodontinae (Estavis & Russel, 1992)
      • Genus: †Eurodon (Estavis & Russel, 1992)
        • †Eurodon silveirinhensis (Estavis & Russel, 1992)
  • Family: †Onychodectidae (Winge, 1917)
    • Genus: †Onychodectes (Cope, 1888)
      • †Onychodectes tisonensis (Cope, 1888)
        • †Onychodectes tisonensis rarus (Osborn & Earle, 1895)
        • †Onychodectes tisonensis tisonensis (Cope, 1888)
  • Superfamily: †Stylinodontoidea (Marsh, 1875)
    • Family: †Stylinodontidae (Marsh, 1875)
      • Subfamily: †Stylinodontinae (Marsh, 1875)
        • Tribe: †Ectoganini (Cope, 1876)
          • Genus: †Ectoganus (Cope, 1874)
            • †Ectoganus bighornensis (Schoch, 1981)
            • †Ectoganus copei (Schoch, 1981)
            • †Ectoganus gliriformis (Cope, 1874)
            • †Ectoganus lobdelli (Simpson, 1929)
        • Tribe: †Psittacotheriini (Schoch, 1982)
          • Genus: †Psittacotherium (Cope, 1882)
            • †Psittacotherium multifragum (Cope, 1882)
        • Tribe: †Stylinodontini (Marsh, 1875)
          • Genus: †Stylinodon (Marsh, 1874)
            • †Stylinodon mirus (Marsh, 1874)
      • Subfamily: †Wortmaniinae (Schoch, 1982)
        • Genus: †Wortmania (Hay, 1899)
          • †Wortmania otariidens (Cope 1885)

Phylogeny

Placentalia

Atlantogenata Boreoeutheria †Palaeoryctida †Ambilestes †Procerberidae †Alveugena  †Taeniodonta   †Schowalteria  †Schowalteria clemensi  †Conoryctidae   †Conoryctinae   †Conoryctini   †Conoryctes  †Conoryctes comma †Huerfanodon polecatensis †Huerfanodon heilprinianus  †Huerfanodon  †Huerfanodon torrejonius  †Conoryctellini   †Conoryctella  †Conoryctella dragonensis †Conoryctella pattersoni  †Eurodontinae   †Eurodon  †Eurodon silveirinhensis  †Onychodectidae   †Onychodectes   †Onychodectes tisonensis  †Onychodectes tisonensis rarus †Onychodectes tisonensis tisonensis  †Stylinodontoidea   †Stylinodontidae   †Wortmaniinae   †Wortmania  †Wortmania otariidens  †Stylinodontinae   †Psittacotheriini   †Psittacotherium  †Psittacotherium multifragum  †Stylinodontini   †Stylinodon  †Stylinodon mirus  †Ectoganini   †Ectoganus  †Ectoganus bighornensis †Ectoganus copei †Ectoganus gliriformis †Ectoganus lobdelli