Widanelfarasia

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|37.2}} Late Eocene

| image =

| image_caption =

| regnum = Animalia

| phylum = Chordata

| classis = Mammalia

| ordo = Afrosoricida

| familia =

| genus = Widanelfarasia

| genus_authority = Seiffert & Simons, 2000

| type_species = Widanelfarasia bowni

| type_species_authority = Seiffert & Simons, 2000

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• W. bowni
• W. rasmusseni

}}

Widanelfarasia is an extinct genus of placental mammals known from the Late Eocene Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypt. Two species are known: W. bowni and the smaller W. rasmusseni. Described in 2000 by E. R. Seiffert and Elwyn L. Simons, Widanelfarasia was initially classified as uncertain position (incertae sedis) within placentals,{{cite journal|last1=Seiffert|first1=Erik R.|last2=Simons|first2=Elwyn L.|title=Widanelfarasia, a diminutive placental from the late Eocene of Egypt|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=2000|volume=97|issue=6|pages=2646–2651|doi=10.1073/pnas.040549797|jstor=122217|pmc=15983|pmid=10694573|bibcode=2000PNAS...97.2646S|doi-access=free}} but was later placed within the afrosoricidan suborder Tenrecomorpha (tenrecs and otter shrews).{{cite journal|last1=Seiffert|first1=Erik R.|last2=Simons|first2=Elwyn L.|last3=Ryan|first3=Timothy M.|last4=Bown|first4=Thomas M.|last5=Attia|first5=Yousry|title=New remains of Eocene and Oligocene Afrosoricida (Afrotheria) from Egypt, with implications for the origin(s) of afrosoricid zalambdodonty|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|date=2007|volume=27|issue=4|pages=963–972|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[963:NROEAO]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=86270273 }}{{cite journal|last1=Seiffert|first1=Erik R|title=A new estimate of afrotherian phylogeny based on simultaneous analysis of genomic, morphological, and fossil evidence|journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology|date=2007|volume=7|issue=1|pages=224|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-7-224|pmid=17999766|pmc=2248600 |bibcode=2007BMCEE...7..224S |doi-access=free }} The genus name derives from Widan el-Faras (Arabic for "Ears of the Mare"), two prominent hills in the area where the fossils were recovered.