Afrotheria

Afrotheria is a <a href="/facts/Superorder/GKLJvIpt">superorder</a> of <a href="/facts/Placental_mammals/xegVWIRG">placental mammals</a>, the living members of which belong to groups that are either currently living in <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">Africa</a> or of African origin: <a href="/facts/Golden_mole/ImaLb4J8">golden moles</a>, <a href="/facts/Elephant_shrew/M7VIfdX6">elephant shrews</a> (also known as sengis), <a href="/facts/Otter_Shrew/6NAI6EgW">otter shrews</a>, <a href="/facts/Tenrec/mKlv2USc">tenrecs</a>, <a href="/facts/Aardvark/4v7cEqLy">aardvarks</a>, <a href="/facts/Hyrax/37F1c043">hyraxes</a>, <a href="/facts/Elephant/6prrEFFK">elephants</a>, <a href="/facts/Sirenia/6KaaDKu5">sea cows</a>, and several extinct clades. Most groups of afrotheres share little or no superficial resemblance, and their similarities have only become known in recent times due to genetics and molecular studies. Many afrothere groups are found mostly or exclusively in Africa, reflecting the fact that Africa was an island continent from the <a href="/facts/Cretaceous/nwKtFtKx">Cretaceous</a> until the early <a href="/facts/Miocene/cBRRzq4g">Miocene</a> around 20 million years ago, when Afro-Arabia collided with Eurasia.
Because Africa was isolated by water, <a href="/facts/Laurasian/GechPqg3">Laurasian</a> groups of mammals such as <a href="/facts/Eulipotyphla/aRE1FC8P">insectivores</a>, <a href="/facts/Rodents/mT4m8QJq">rodents</a>, <a href="/facts/Lagomorphs/0J5JT196">lagomorphs</a>, <a href="/facts/Carnivorans/4wWDW8RY">carnivorans</a> and <a href="/facts/Ungulates/NPtsoQmI">ungulates</a> could not reach Africa for much of the early to mid-<a href="/facts/Cenozoic/yFslcz6n">Cenozoic</a>. Instead, the niches occupied by those groups on the northern continents were filled by various groups of afrotheres via the process of <a href="/facts/Convergent_evolution/dd0L8z4R">convergent evolution</a>. The small insectivorous afrotheres such as elephant shrews, golden moles, and tenrecs filled the niches of <a href="/facts/Eulipotyphla/aRE1FC8P">insectivores</a>, the hyraxes filled the roles of rodents and lagomorphs, the aardvarks filled the roles of various medium size ant-eating mammals (anteaters, armadillos, pangolins, echidnas, numbats, etc.) found on other continents throughout the Cenozoic, and <a href="/facts/Proboscideans/Dzk4qsH0">proboscideans</a> (elephants and their relatives) filled the roles of large herbivores such as hippos, camels, rhinos, and tapirs. The <a href="/facts/Sirenians/6KaaDKu5">sirenians</a> developed aquatic body plans and started spreading to other parts of the world by water (evolving convergently with the other groups of marine mammals such as <a href="/facts/Cetacean/rtC33h63">cetaceans</a> and <a href="/facts/Pinniped/8ya4Lzek">pinnipeds</a>). In addition to their similarity with Laurasian mammals in North America, Europe, and Asia, many afrotheres also exhibit convergent evolution with groups of mammals that evolved and lived exclusively in South America, which was also an island continent for much of the Cenozoic.
The common ancestry of these animals was not recognized until the late 1990s. Historically, the <a href="/facts/Paenungulata/LrIvjQ0w">Paenungulata</a> had been linked to the true ungulates (particularly the <a href="/facts/Odd-toed_ungulate/wHFU3gFH">perissodactyls</a>); the golden mole, tenrecs, and elephant shrews with the traditional (and polyphyletic/incorrect) taxon <a href="/facts/Insectivora/LWpNdAC0">Insectivora</a>; and the aardvarks with the <a href="/facts/Pangolin/XgTYUFIV">pangolins</a> and the <a href="/facts/Xenarthran/jEr4EcPD">xenarthrans</a> within the invalid taxon <a href="/facts/Edentata/jEr4EcPD">Edentata</a>. Continuing work on the molecular and morphological diversity of afrotherian mammals has provided ever increasing support for their common ancestry.

Afrotheria open-in-new

Afrotheria