plesiadapiformes

{{Short description|Extinct order of mammals}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{Paraphyletic group

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|66|46.2|earliest=66}}Paleocene–Middle Eocene{{Cite web|title=Plesiadapiformes|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=40701&is_real_user=1|access-date=2021-08-10|website=paleobiodb.org}}

| image = Plesiadapis_NT.jpg

| image_caption = Plesiadapis

| auto = yes

| taxon = Plesiadapiformes

| authority = Simons and Tattersall, 1972

| includes = *Micromomyidae

• Paromomyidae
• Picromomyidae
• Palaechthonidae
• Microsyopidae
• Chronolestidae
• Plesiadapidae
• Carpolestidae
• Purgatoriidae (?){{Cite journal|last1=Scott|first1=Craig S.|last2=Fox|first2=Richard C.|last3=Redman|first3=Cory M.|date=2016-03-21|title=A new species of the basal plesiadapiform Purgatorius (Mammalia, Primates) from the early Paleocene Ravenscrag Formation, Cypress Hills, southwest Saskatchewan, Canada: further taxonomic and dietary diversity in the earliest primates|url=https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjes-2015-0238|journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|volume=53|issue=4|pages=343–354|language=en|doi=10.1139/cjes-2015-0238|bibcode=2016CaJES..53..343S|hdl=1807/71784|hdl-access=free}}
• Saxonellidae
• Toliapinidae{{Cite journal|last1=Silcox|first1=Mary T.|last2=Bloch|first2=Jonathan I.|last3=Boyer|first3=Doug M.|last4=Chester|first4=Stephen G. B.|last5=López‐Torres|first5=Sergi|date=April 2017|title=The evolutionary radiation of plesiadapiforms|journal=Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews|language=en|volume=26|issue=2|pages=74–94|doi=10.1002/evan.21526|pmid=28429568|issn=1060-1538|doi-access=free}}

| excludes =

}}

Plesiadapiformes ("Adapid-like" or "near Adapiformes") is an extinct basal pan-primates group, as sister to the rest of the pan-primates.{{cite book|last1=Henke|first1=Winfried|last2=Tattersall|first2=Ian|author-link2=Ian Tattersall|last3=Hardt|first3=Thorolf|title=Handbook of Paleoanthropology: Vol I:Principles, Methods and Approaches Vol II:Primate Evolution and Human Origins Vol III:Phylogeny of Hominids|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhoRdbTrjc8C&pg=PA839|access-date=25 January 2015|year=2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-32474-4|page=839}}{{cite journal|last1=Boyer|first1=Doug M.|last2=Costeur|first2=Loïc|last3=Lipman|first3=Yaron|title=Earliest record of Platychoerops(Primates, Plesiadapidae), a new species from Mouras Quarry, Mont de Berru, France|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=149|issue=3|year=2012|pages=329–346|issn=0002-9483|doi=10.1002/ajpa.22119|pmid=22926965|s2cid=37772289|doi-access=}}{{cite journal|last1=Ni|first1=X.|last2=Meng|first2=J.|last3=Beard|first3=K. C.|last4=Gebo|first4=D. L.|last5=Wang|first5=Y.|last6=Li|first6=C.|title=A new tarkadectine primate from the Eocene of Inner Mongolia, China: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=277|issue=1679|year=2009|pages=247–256|issn=0962-8452|doi=10.1098/rspb.2009.0173|pmc=2842661|pmid=19386655}}{{Cite journal|last1=Silcox|first1=Mary T.|last2=Bloch|first2=Jonathan I.|last3=Boyer|first3=Doug M.|last4=Chester|first4=Stephen G. B.|last5=López‐Torres|first5=Sergi|date=2017|title=The evolutionary radiation of plesiadapiforms|journal=Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews|language=en|volume=26|issue=2|pages=74–94|doi=10.1002/evan.21526|pmid=28429568|issn=1520-6505|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal |last1=Wisniewski |first1=Anna L. |last2=Lloyd |first2=Graeme T. |last3=Slater |first3=Graham J. |date=2022-05-25 |title=Extant species fail to estimate ancestral geographical ranges at older nodes in primate phylogeny |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=289 |issue=1975 |pages=20212535 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2021.2535 |issn=0962-8452 |pmc=9115010 |pmid=35582793}} The pan-primates together with the Dermoptera form the Primatomorpha. Purgatorius may not be a primate as an extinct sister to the rest of the Dermoptera or a separate, more basal stem pan-primate branch. Even with Purgatorius removed, the crown primates may even have emerged in this group.

File:Notharctus tenebrosus e Plesiadapis cooki (cropped).jpg (right), compared to Notharctus tenebrosus (left), an early crown primate. Both come from Eocene Wyoming, though the former is slightly geologically older.]]

Plesiadapiformes first appear in the fossil record between 65 and 55 million years ago,[http://www.physorg.com/news88774682.html Paleontologists discover most primitive primate skeleton - PhysOrg.com]{{Cite web|last=March 2021|first=Patrick Pester-Staff Writer 04|title=Primate ancestor of all humans likely roamed with the dinosaurs|url=https://www.livescience.com/earliest-primate-fossil-discovered.html|access-date=2021-03-05|website=livescience.com|language=en}} although many were extinct by the beginning of the Eocene. They may be the earliest known mammals to have finger nails in place of claws.{{cite episode |title="Sleep, First Primates, Earthquakes in the Midwest and Profile: Sang-Mook Lee" |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0303/02.html |series=NOVA scienceNOW |series-link=NOVA scienceNOW |network=PBS |airdate=9 July 2008 |season=4 |number=8 |minutes=13:04 |transcript-url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/0303_sciencen.html#h02 |transcript=Transcripts – NOVA scienceNOW: 9 July 2008}} In 1990, K.C. Beard attempted to link the Plesiadapiformes with the order Dermoptera. They proposed that paromomyid Phenacolemur had digital proportions of the fossil indicated gliding habits similar to that of colugos.{{cite journal |last1=Beard |first1=K. C. |title=Gliding behaviour and palaeoecology of the alleged primate family Paromomyidae (Mammalia, Dermoptera) |journal=Nature |date=1990 |volume=345 |issue=6273 |pages=340–341 |doi=10.1038/345340a0|bibcode=1990Natur.345..340B |s2cid=4369153 }}

In the following simplified cladogram, the crown primates are classified as highly derived Plesiadapiformes, possibly as sister of the Plesiadapoidea. The crown primates are cladistically granted here into the Plesiadapiformes, and "Plesiadapiformes" become a junior synonym of the primates. With this tree, the Plesiadapiformes are not literally extinct (in the sense of having no surviving descendants). The crown primates are also called "Euprimates" in this context.

{{Clade | style=font-size:75%;line-height:75%

| label1=Euarchontoglires

| 1={{Clade

| label1=Glires

| 1={{Clade

| 1=Rodentia (rodents)

| 2=Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, pikas)}}

| label2=Euarchonta

| 2={{Clade

| 1=Scandentia (treeshrews)

|label2=Primatomorpha

| 2={{Clade

| 1=Dermoptera (colugos)

|label2=Primates/

|sublabel2=Plesiadapiformes

| 2={{Clade

| 1=†Purgatoriidae

|2={{clade

|1=†Micromomyidae

|2={{clade

|1=†Microsyopidae

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=†Paromomyidae

|2=†Palaechthonidae

}}

|2={{clade

|label1=Plesiadapoidea

|1={{clade

|1=†Carpolestidae

|2=†Plesiadapidae

}}

| 2=Crown Primates

}} }} }} }} }}}}}}}}

}}

Alternatively, in 2018, the Plesiadapiformes were proposed to be more related to Dermoptera, or roughly corresponding to Primatomorpha, with both Dermoptera and the primates emerging within this group.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.08.005 |pmid=30497682 |title=New fossils, systematics, and biogeography of the oldest known crown primate Teilhardina from the earliest Eocene of Asia, Europe, and North America |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=128 |pages=103–131 |year=2019 |last1=Morse |first1=Paul E. |last2=Chester |first2=Stephen G.B. |last3=Boyer |first3=Doug M. |last4=Smith |first4=Thierry |last5=Smith |first5=Richard |last6=Gigase |first6=Paul |last7=Bloch |first7=Jonathan I. |s2cid=54167483 }}{{Citation|last=Godinot|first=Marc|chapter=Paleocene and Eocene Primates|date=2017-04-16|encyclopedia=The International Encyclopedia of Primatology|pages=1–9|editor-last=Bezanson|editor-first=Michele|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781119179313.wbprim0331|isbn=9781119179313|editor2-last=MacKinnon|editor2-first=Katherine C|editor3-last=Riley|editor3-first=Erin|editor4-last=Campbell|editor4-first=Christina J}}{{Cite journal|last1=Boyer|first1=Doug M.|last2=Maiolino|first2=Stephanie A.|last3=Holroyd|first3=Patricia A.|last4=Morse|first4=Paul E.|last5=Bloch|first5=Jonathan I.|date=2018-09-01|title=Oldest evidence for grooming claws in euprimates|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|language=en|volume=122|pages=1–22|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.03.010|pmid=29935935|doi-access=free}} Also in a 2020 paper, the primates and Dermoptera were jointly considered sister to the plesiadapiform Purgatoriidae, resulting in the following phylogenetic tree.{{Cite journal|last1=Seiffert|first1=Erik R.|last2=Tejedor|first2=Marcelo F.|last3=Fleagle|first3=John G.|last4=Novo|first4=Nelson M.|last5=Cornejo|first5=Fanny M.|last6=Bond|first6=Mariano|last7=de Vries|first7=Dorien|last8=Campbell|first8=Kenneth E.|date=2020-04-10|title=A parapithecid stem anthropoid of African origin in the Paleogene of South America|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba1135|journal=Science|language=en|volume=368|issue=6487|pages=194–197|doi=10.1126/science.aba1135|pmid=32273470|bibcode=2020Sci...368..194S|s2cid=215550773|issn=0036-8075}}

{{Clade | style=font-size:75%;line-height:75%

| label1=Euarchontoglires

| 1={{Clade

| label1=Glires

| 1={{Clade

| 1=Rodentia (rodents)

| 2=Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, pikas)}}

| label2=Euarchonta

| 2={{Clade

| 1=Scandentia (treeshrews)

|label2=Primatomorpha/

|sublabel2=Plesiadapiformes

| 2={{Clade

| 1={{Clade

| 1=†Purgatoriidae

|label2=crown Primatomorpha

| 2={{Clade

| 1=Dermoptera (colugos)

|2=Primates

}}}}

|2=†Plesiadapiform s.s.

}}}}}}

}}

Traditionally, they were regarded as a separate extinct order of Primatomorpha, but it now appears that groups such as the extant primates and/or the Dermoptera have emerged in the group.{{citation needed |reason=Plesiadapiformes predates Primatomorpha so how traditional is the inclusion in the latter? |date=December 2023}}

Similarly, in 2021 the Purgatoriidae were classified as sister to Dermoptera, while the rest of the Plesiadapiformes appear to be sister to the remaining primates:

{{Clade|{{clade

|1=Scandentia

|label2=Primatomorpha/

|sublabel2=Plesiadapiformes s.l.

|2={{clade

|label1=Dermoptera

|1={{clade

|1=Purgatoriidae

|2=crown Dermoptera

}}

|label2=Primates

|2={{clade

|1=Plesiadapiformes s.s.

|2={{clade

|1=Palenochtha weissae

|2={{clade

|label1=Toliapinidae

|1=Avenius amatorum

|2={{clade

|1=Altanius orlovi

|label2=crown Primates

|2={{clade

|label1=Strepsirrhini/

|sublabel1=Adapiformes s.l.

|1=crown Strepsirrhini

|sublabel2=Omomyiformes s.l.

|label2=Haplorhini/

|2={{clade

|1=Archicebus achilles

|sublabel2=Teilhardina s.l.

|2={{clade

|label1=Teilhardina s.s.

|1={{clade

|1=Teilhardina asiatica

|2={{clade

|1=Teilhardina belgica

|2= Teilhardina magnoliana

}}}}

|2={{clade

|1=Teilhardina brandti

|label2=crown Haplorhini

|2={{clade

|label1=Tarsiiformes

|1={{clade

|1=Omomyiformes s.s.

|2={{clade

|1=Teilhardina s.s

|2=crown Tarsiiformes

}}

}}

|2=Simiiformes

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}|label1=Euarchonta|style1=line-height:80%;font-size:80%}}

One possible classification table of plesiadapiform families is listed below.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

• Plesiadapiformes
• Family Micromomyidae
• Superfamily Paromomyoidea
• Family Paromomyidae
• Family Picromomyidae
• Family Palaechthonidae
• Family Microsyopidae
• Superfamily Plesiadapoidea{{Cite web |title=Plesiadapoidea |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=40732&is_real_user=1 |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=paleobiodb.org}}
• Family Carpolestidae
• Family Chronolestidae
• Family Plesiadapidae
• Family Saxonellidae