Multis - Major Subgroups

Major Subgroups

Classification and suborders

The relationships within the Multituberculata are poorly defined, and many trees have been proposed to explain the relationships within the order. The general consensus is that the earlier forms, belonging to the Plagiaulacida suborder, include the ancestors to the later Cimolodonta suborder.

The poor relationships within the order have been attributed to incompleteness of the fossil record: a large amount of data is missing for many of the genera, which makes comparison between them difficult. Also, there is strong parallelism between some groups, especially in development of the teeth. For example, the shape and proportions of the upper teeth in one species in the Djadochtatherioidea closely resemble those of a species in the Ptilodontoidea, so much so that they would have been put in the same species had the classification been based on these teeth alone. The high level of parallelism makes telling apart the characters that have evolved in parallel from those that are shared through a common ancestor difficult.

The classification used here is based on shared derived characters of greatest importance and utility (as defined by Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum, 2001). This phylogenetic tree is just one of the possibilities.

cladogram showing hypothetical relationships between and within the Plagiaulacid and Cimolodontan suborders

Cladogram showing interrelationships within the Multituberculata (from Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum, 2001, reproduced with authorisation)

Classification

Suborder Plagiaulacida
        - Allodontid line
            Family Allodontidae
            Family Zofiabaataridae
           Family incertae sedis
        - Paulchoffatiid line
            Family Paulchoffatiidae
                Subfamily Pauchoffatiinae
                Subfamily Kuehneodontinae
                Subfamily Paulchoffatiidae (subfamily indeterminate)
                ?Subfamily indeterminate
                    Genus Mojo
            Family Hahnodontidae
            Family Pinheirodontidae
        - Plagiaulacid line
            Family Plagiaulacidae
            Family Eobaataridae
            Family Albionbaataridae
            Family incertae sedis
                    Genus Janumys
    Suborder incertae sedis
            Family Arginbaataridae
                    Genus Arginbaatar

Suborder Cimolodonta
        Superfamily and family incertae sedis - Paracimexomys group
                    Genus Paracimexomys
                    Genus Bryceomys
                    Genus Cedaromys
                    Genus Dakotamys
                    ?Genera Ameribaatar, Barbatodon, Cimexomys
        Superfamily Djadochtatherioidea
            Family Djadochtatheriidae
            Family Sloanbaataridae
            Family incertae sedis
                    Genera Bulganbaatar,Chulsanbaatar, Nemegtbaatar
        Superfamily incertae sedis
           Family Cimolomyidae
            Family Eucosmodontidae
            Family Microcosmontidae
        Superfamily Taeniolabidoidea
            Family Taeniolabididae
        Superfamily incertae sedis
            Family Kogaionidae
            Family incertae sedis
                    Genera Uzbekbaatar, Viridomys
        Superfamily Ptilodontoidea
            Family Ptilodontidae
            Family Neoplagiaulacidae
            Family Cimolodontidae

Author: Aude Caromel
Last updated: 20/11/06
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