Archonta

{{Short description|Invalid superorder of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Archonta.png

| image_caption =

| taxon = Archonta

| subdivision_ranks = Subgroups

| subdivision =

• Euarchonta
• Chiroptera

}}

The Archonta are a now-abandoned group of mammals, considered a superorder in some classifications, which consists of these orders:

• Primates
• Plesiadapiformes (extinct primate-like archontans)
• Scandentia (treeshrews)
• Dermoptera (colugos)

While bats were traditionally included in the Archonta, genetic analysis has suggested that bats actually belong in Laurasiatheria.{{cite journal|last1=Van de Bussche|first1=R. A.|last2=Hoofer|first2=S. R.|title=Phylogenetic relationships among recent chiropteran families and the importance of choosing appropriate out-group taxa|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|date=2004|volume=85|issue=2|pages=321–330|doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2004)085<0321:Prarcf>2.0.Co;2|doi-access=free}} A revised category excluding bats, Euarchonta, has been proposed.{{cite journal|last=Adkins|first=RM|author2=Honeycutt, RL|title=Molecular phylogeny of the superorder Archonta.|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date=Nov 15, 1991|volume=88|issue=22|pages=10317–21|pmid=1658802|pmc=52919|doi=10.1073/pnas.88.22.10317|bibcode=1991PNAS...8810317A|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last=Springer|first=MS|author2=Stanhope, MJ|author3= Madsen, O|author4= de Jong, WW|title=Molecules consolidate the placental mammal tree.|journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|date=August 2004|volume=19|issue=8|pages=430–8|pmid=16701301|doi=10.1016/j.tree.2004.05.006}}

This taxon may have arisen in the Early Cretaceous (more than 100 million years ago), so other models may explain mammalian evolution besides an explosive radiation from a single surviving lineage following the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction of the Mesozoic megafauna,{{cite journal|last=Penny|first=David|author2=Phillips, Matthew J.|title=The rise of birds and mammals: are microevolutionary processes sufficient for macroevolution?|journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|date=October 2004|volume=19|issue=10|pages=516–522|doi=10.1016/j.tree.2004.07.015|pmid=16701316|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/14569/files/PAL_E1781.pdf }} such as a series of prior radiations related to the breakup of Gondwana and Laurasia allowing for more survivors.{{cite journal|last=Hedges|first=S. Blair|author2=Kumar, Sudhir|title=A molecular timescale for vertebrate evolution|journal=Nature|date=30 April 1998|volume=392|issue=6679|pages=917–920|doi=10.1038/31927|url=http://cichlid.umd.edu/cichlidlabs/kc/Teaching/SensReadings/KumarHedges98.pdf|pmid=9582070|bibcode=1998Natur.392..917K|s2cid=205001573|access-date=18 December 2013|archive-date=19 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219073221/http://cichlid.umd.edu/cichlidlabs/kc/Teaching/SensReadings/KumarHedges98.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal|last=Hedges|first=SB|author2=Parker, PH|author3=Sibley, CG|author4=Kumar, S|title=Continental breakup and the ordinal diversification of birds and mammals.|journal=Nature|date=May 16, 1996|volume=381|issue=6579|pages=226–9|pmid=8622763|url=http://www.kumarlab.net/pdf_new/HedgesKumar96.pdf|doi=10.1038/381226a0|bibcode=1996Natur.381..226H|s2cid=4328989|access-date=December 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219013239/http://www.kumarlab.net/pdf_new/HedgesKumar96.pdf|archive-date=December 19, 2013|url-status=dead}}