Belongs within: Scrotifera.
Contains: Mesonychia, Carnivoramorpha, Arctocyonidae, Pantodonta, Periptychidae, Pholidotamorpha, Didelphodontinae, Creodonta.
The Ferae are a clade of mammals supported by molecular data uniting the modern Carnivora with the Pholidota (pangolins). A phylogenetic analysis of Palaeocene mammals by Halliday et al. (2017) identified a number of potential fossil members of this clade when results were constrained to correlate with modern molecular analyses but it remains to be seen whether these associations will be supported by future analyses.
<==Ferae [Ostentoria] | i. s.: Triacodon Marsh 1871V66 |--+--+--MesonychiaHUG17 | | `--CarnivoramorphaHUG17 | `--+--GoniacodonHUG17 | | |--G. hiawathaeHUG17 | | `--G. levisanusHUG17 | `--+--TriisodonO98 | | |--T. antiquusO98 | | `--T. quivirensisO98 | `--EoconodonHUG17 | |--E. copanusHUG17 | |--E. gaudrianusV66 | `--E. heilprinianusHUG17 `--+--+--ArctocyonidaeHUG17 | `--+--+--PantodontaHUG17 | | `--Bisonalveus Gazin 1956HUG17, V67 | | |--B. browniHUG17 | | `--B. holtzmaniHUG17 | `--+--PeriptychidaeMC00 | `--Pentacodontinae [Pentacodontidae]S78 | |--Coriphagus Douglass 1908V67 | | `--C. montanus Douglass 1908S35b | |--Amaramnis Gazin 1962V67 | | `--A. gregoryi Gazin 1962V67 | |--Protentomodon Simpson 1928V67 | | `--P. ursirivalis Simpson 1928V67 | |--Pentacodon Scott 1892HUG17, V67 | | |--P. inversusS35b | | `--P. subtrigonusHUG17 | `--Aphronorus Simpson 1935S78, S35b | |--*A. fraudator Simpson 1935S35b | `--A. orieliHUG17 `--+--PholidotamorphaHUG17 `--+--+--DidelphodontinaeHUG17 | |--CreodontaHUG17 | `--Palaeoryctidae [Palaeoryctae, Palaeoryctinae]AM02 | |--Alveugena carbonensis Eberle 1999FN03 | |--Aaptoryctes ivyiR06, HUG17 | |--OttoryctesR06 | |--Pararyctes Van Valen 1966SFY02 | | |--*P. pattersoni Van Valen 1966SFY02 | | `--P. rutherfordi Scott, Fox & Youzwyshyn 2002SFY02 | `--Palaeoryctes Matthew 1913HUG17, M58 | |--*P. puercensis Matthew 1913M58 | |--P. cruorisD07 | |--P. jepseniHUG17 | |--P. minimusD07 | `--P. punctatus Van Valen 1966V66 `--+--Oxyclaeninae [Oxyclaenidae]F68 | |--Prothryptacodon Simpson 1935F68, S35b | | |--*P. furens Simpson 1935S35b | | `--P. albertensis Fox 1968F68 | `--OxyclaenusHUG17 | |--O. antiquus [=Chriacus antiquus]V67 | |--O. cuspidatusV66 | |--O. simplexV66 | `--O. subbituminusHUG17 `--+--+--Anacodon ursidensHUG17 | `--ClaenodonHUG17 [incl. Neoclaenodon Gidley 1919S35b] | |--C. ferox (Cope 1883)S35b | |--C. latidens (Gidley 1919)S35b | |--C. montanensis (Gidley 1919)S35b | |--C. procyonoidesV66 | |--C. silberlingi (Gidley 1919)S35b | `--C. vecordensis Simpson 1935S35b `--+--Thryptacodon Matthew & Granger 1915HUG17, SFY02 [incl. Metachriacus Simpson 1935S35b] | |--T. antiquus Matthew & Granger 1915SFY02 | |--T. australis Simpson 1935SFY02 | |--T. orthogonius (Russell 1929) (see below for synonymy)SFY02 | `--T. pseudarctosS35a `--Chriacus Cope 1883HUG17, D07 |--C. baldwini (Cope 1882) (see below for synonymy)SFY02 |--C. calenancusD07 |--C. gallinaeV66 |--C. katrinaeD07 |--C. metocemetiD07 |--C. oconostotaeHUG17 |--C. pelvidensS35b |--C. pugnax Simpson 1935S35b |--C. punitorD07 `--C. pusillus Simpson 1935S35b
Chriacus baldwini (Cope 1882) [incl. Metachriacus provocator Simpson 1935, C. truncatus Cope 1884]SFY02
Thryptacodon orthogonius (Russell 1929)SFY02 [=Chriacus orthogoniusSFY02; incl. T. belli Gazin 1956SFY02, T. demari Gazin 1956SFY02, *Metachriacus punitor Simpson 1935S35b, SFY02]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.
[F68] Fox, R. C. 1968. A new Paleocene mammal (Condylarthra: Arctocyonidae) from a well in Alberta, Canada. Journal of Mammalogy 49 (4): 661–664.
[FN03] Fox, R. C., & B. G. Naylor. 2003. A Late Cretaceous taeniodont (Eutheria, Mammalia) from Alberta, Canada. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie—Abhandlungen 229 (3): 393–420.
[HUG17] Halliday, T. J. D., P. Upchurch & A. Goswami. 2017. Resolving the relationships of Paleocene placental mammals. Biological Reviews 92 (1): 521–550.
[M58] McDowell, S. B., Jr. 1958. The Greater Antillean insectivores. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 115 (3): 113–214.
[MC00] Muizon, C. de, & R. L. Cifelli. 2000. The “condylarths” (archaic Ungulata, Mammalia) from the early Palaeocene of Tiupampa (Bolivia): implications on the origin of the South American ungulates. Geodiversitas 22 (1): 47–150.
[O98] O’Leary, M. A. 1998. Phylogenetic and morphometric reassessment of the dental evidence for a mesonychian and cetacean clade. In: Thewissen, J. G. M. (ed.) The Emergence of Whales pp. 133–161. Plenum Press: New York.
[R06] Rose, K. D. 2006. The Beginning of the Age of Mammals. John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.
[S78] Savage, R. J. G. 1978. Carnivora. In: Maglio, V. J., & H. B. S. Cooke (eds) Evolution of African Mammals pp. 249–267. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (Massachusetts).
[SFY02] Scott, C. S., R. C. Fox & G. P. Youzwyshyn. 2002. New earliest Tiffanian (late Paleocene) mammals from Cochrane 2, southwestern Alberta, Canada. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47: 691–704.
[S35a] Simpson, G. G. 1935a. The Tiffany fauna, Upper Paleocene. I.–Multituberculata, Marsupialia, Insectivora, and ?Chiroptera. American Museum Novitates 795: 1–19.
[S35b] Simpson, G. G. 1935b. New Paleocene mammals from the Fort Union of Montana. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 83 (2981): 221–244.
[V66] Van Valen, L. 1966. Deltatheridia, a new order of mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 132 (1): 1–126.
[V67] Van Valen, L. 1967. New Paleocene insectivores and insectivore classification. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 135 (5): 217–284.