New evidence on the relationships of the Tertiary insectivoran Ankylodon (Mammalia)

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Abstract
Features of the snout, face, palate, and anterior upper dentition of the Tertiary insectivoran Ankylodon Patterson and McGrew are described for the first time. Instead of corroborating the widely held view (based on the anatomy of the molars) that Ankylodon is most closely related to the Adapisoricidae and, hence, to the Erinaceomorpha among the Insectivora, these features suggest that Ankylodon is most closely related to soricomorph insectivorans. The hypothesis that Ankylodon and the Tertiary soricomorph Centetodon Marsh represent insectivoran lineages that had been separate since the Late Cretaceous is shown to be largely based on differences between Ankylodon and advanced species of Centetodon, rather than between Ankylodon and primitive species of Centetodon as would a valid hypothesis require.

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