AFROTHERIA

AFROTHERIA

1. order: Afrosoricida

   • Golden Moles
     • FAMILY: Chrysochloridae 
     • habitat
       • central and southern AFRICA
     • features
       • BODY STYLE: convergent with MARSUPIAL and TRUE moles
       • SUBTERRANEAN, NO pinnae, has vestigial eyes
       • pelage is SOFT and undirectional 
       • LEATHERLIKE PAD on nose
       • forelimbs are UNDER the body and NOT rotated outward like in true moles
   • Tenrecs
     • FAMILY: Tenrecidae 
     • habitat
       • ADAPTIVE radiation on Madagascar only (55 MYA)
       • inhabit rainforests, dry deciduous forests, and deserts in Madagascar 
     • features
       • Ancenstral morphology 
       • TAXONOMY: most closely related to AARDVARK and AFRICAN ELEPHANT
       • several species ENDANGERED
       • shrew to rabbit sized
       • LONG snout, SMALL eyes
       • urogenital canal and anus open into a common CLOACA 
       • has SPINES interspersed with soft hairs:  HEMICENTENTES - specialized quills + STRIDULATING ORGAN
       • some may use rudimentary echolocation 
       • some species are HETEROTHERMIC 
       • INSECTIVOROUS or OMNIVOROUS 
     • otter-shrews
       • WEST and CENTRAL AFRICA ONLY

2. order: Macroscelidea

   • Elephant Shrews (SENGIS)
     • FAMILY: Macroscelididae
     • habitat
       • AFRICA ONLY 
       • desert, plains, brushland, forests, rocky areas 
     • features
       • order name translates to "long/leg/form"
       • terrestrial; mouse to large rat sized
       • large eyes and ears
       • long, moveable sensitive snouts 
       • long limbs; fast 
       • CARNIVOROUS but HAS CECUM 
       • DIURNAL except during hot weather  Torpor:  Tb to 5⁰C; O2 consumption 2% of BMR   
       • TERRITORIAL; may maintain intricate trail system
       • scent marking and foot drumming
     • economics and conservation
       • several species hunted for meat
       • contract MALARIA; used in medical research
       • several species ENDANGERED
       • new species discovered in 2006, description published in 2008

3. order: Tubulidentata

   • Aardvark
     • FAMILY: Orycteropodidae
     • habitat
       • dry savanna to rainforests
       • Ethiopian biogeographic region
       • tied to ant and termite distributions
       • solitary, secretive, elusive 
     • features
       • NOCTURNAL 
       • acute olfaction (fleshy tentacles on septum) and auditory abilities
       • may travel 30 KM at night while foraging 
       • known as "earth pig" because it superficially resembles a pig
       • up to 60kg and 1.5m long
       • square, long snout, small eyes, large erect ears that fold back when digging 
       • tough, sparsely haired hide
       • toes with robust clawlike nails 
       • elongate rostrum with sticky tongue
       • no incisors or canines, but chew food with CHEEKTEETH (teeth = columnar or tubular with 1500 hexagonal prisms of dentine, no enamel, remain in gums)
       • muscular pyloric section of stomach to grind food
     • fossil history
       • incomplete records
       • early Miocene (24 MYA) the earliest, but several extinct species from Pleistocene (1.8MYA to 10,000 YA)
     • economics and conservation
       • eaten by native peoples 
       • teeth used as good-luck charms and jewelry 
       • populations LOWER than historic times

4. eutherians

   • eutherians dominated mammalian fauna on most continents during most of the CENOZOIC era >mammals in SOUTH AMERICA and AUSTRALIA were mostly marsupials  >today, 5100/5400 mammal species are PLACENTAL 
   • earliest eutherian fossil is 125MYO (Eomaia scansoria in China)
   • remaining record includes over 40 genera
   • most fossils are fragments of jaws -difficult to distinguish between eutherians and metatherians on TOOTH and JAW features alone -distinguished mainly by reproductive features
   • several characters of EUTHERIANS differentiate them from MONOTREMES and MARSUPIALS: -no marsupium -complex placenta to nourish young through long prenatal period -young maintained in nest, seldom moved while attached to nipples -relatively larger braincase -no EPIPUBIC bones
   • cretaceous eutherians
     • SMALL
     • lacked auditory bulla 
     • lacked opposable first digits and probably not arboreal 
     • incisors varied in number
     • probably played a variety of ecological roles: -insectivory, carnivory, and herbivory -climbers, jumpers, diggers, and generalized runners 

Images and files in the map