LOUISINIDAE SUDRE & RUSSELL, 1982

Hooker, Jerry J. & Russell, Donald E., 2012, Early Palaeogene Louisinidae (Macroscelidea, Mammalia), their relationships and north European diversity, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 164 (4), pp. 856-936 : 859

FAMILY LOUISINIDAE SUDRE & RUSSELL, 1982 (NEW RANK)

Type genus: Louisina Russell, 1964 .

Included genera: Walbeckodon nov., Paschatherium Russell, 1964 , Berrulestes nov., Dipavali Van Valen, 1978 , Gigarton nov., Monshyus Sudre & Russell, 1982 (including Prolatidens waudruae Sudre & Russell, 1982 ), Thryptodon nov., Prolouisina nov., Teilhardimys Kretzoi & Kretzoi, 2000 (replacement name for Microhyus Teilhard de Chardin, 1927 , preoccupied by Microhyus Leconte, 1876 , a beetle).

Diagnosis: Macroscelideans with: posterior mental foramen below mesial part of M 1 (or below distal part of P 4 in Dipavali ) (autapomorphy); fourth premolar semimolariform (i.e. with significant P 4 metacone and P 4 hypoconid) to molariform (except Louisina mirabilis ) (shared with Adapisorex , Adunator , Macroscelididae , and Leptictida ; therefore primitive for the order, but an important feature distinguishing it from Apheliscidae and Amphilemuridae and, when combined with the mental foramen character, from Adapisoricidae sensu stricto).

Discussion: Louisininae is raised to family rank here as Louisinidae . This is because the cladistic analysis below shows that the Apheliscidae , in which it was included as a subfamily ( Zack et al., 2005a, b), is polyphyletic. Thus, a succession of sister groups to Apheliscidae (without Louisininae ), namely Litocherus (‘Adapisoricidae’), Macrocranion (Amphilemuridae) , and Adapisorex (Adapisoricidae) , separate Apheliscidae sensu stricto from Louisinidae .